Your Taxpayer advocate is giving conflicting information. The IRS will hold a refund if there is (or they think there is a delinquent return). There is a whole department dedicated to this within the IRS and that is the only department that can release the refund once the return is filed. You have to submit either a return or proof that you had previously filed the return to the address on the notice(its in Texas). You can verify that you were sent a notice or have a delinquent return by logging into the IRS website to view your account or to get a copy of a Tax account transcript. I know this because they were holding my refund due to what they thought was a un-filed 2015 return and they wanted to make sure I didn't owe anything on that return (I don't) however in the middle of me working on this the department shut down and I was no longer able to speak with them on the phone. My refund is still processing but my return has been fully processed --- I have been able to download a copy of my 2019 Tax return and account transcript. While this might not be the case for you, it still can happen and that is the exact reason my 2019 refund is being held -- I have the notice. It does exist and it is a thing. However this should not hold up my stimulus because both my 2018 and 2019 tax returns have been filed, I do not owe any back child support. I truly believe that those of us in my exact situation are products of a glitch in the system where something truly wasn't coded right. I have been in contact with my advocate regarding my refund for 2019 but as for my stimulus I am floating in the water with the rest.
