First of all, if you efiled, be sure your efiled return was accepted. If prepared in Online TurboTax, log into your Online account, and at the Tax Home go to the section "Your Tax Returns & Documents". Expand that section and choose tax year 2020. Or did you file on paper by printing and mailing the return?
I've had to phone the IRS a couple of times for a delay I was experiencing and had good results this way.
For me it was best to call late in the week when fewer people might be calling, such as a Thursday or Friday, and just before closing time--about 6:55 PM--and quickly go through the steps below so that you finish the menu before they close at 7 PM. I figured a lot of folks would not call that close to closing, and that if I was one of the last to get into the queue, they would finish off all the people who were in the queue at closing time. And luckily, my hunch worked for me. Still had to wait about 25 minutes.
IRS: 800-829-1040 (7AM-7 PM local time) Monday-Friday
When calling the IRS do not choose the first choice re: "Refund", or it will send you to an automated phone line.
- First choose your language. Then listen to each menu before making the selection.
- Then press 2 for "personal income tax".
- Then press 1 for "form, tax history, or payment".
- Then press 3 "for all other questions."
- Then press 2 "for all other questions."
- It may then ask for your SSN, but do not enter it. Just wait. If it asks for SSN a second time, still do not enter it.
- Then it will get "tired", and you'll get another menu. Choose 2 for "personal".
- Then in the next menu choose 4 for "all other inquiries", and it should transfer you to an agent but expect a long wait.
- I usually use a speakerphone so I can work on something else while waiting.
As for the IRS Taxpayer Advocate, were you trying to reach the local one for your state or the national office?
It's best to start with your local advocate, but you can try the national office, if needed.
If you continue to have no luck reaching the IRS, or don't get satisfactory information, try again to contact the IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service for your area. They are especially prone to help if you have an economic hardship, or if there have been continued delays with lack of info from the IRS. At the following IRS website, find the USA map and click on your state, and it will give you the number of your IRS Taxpayer Advocate. If the Taxpayer Advocate can't/won't help you, ask them to transfer you to an an IRS agent. A couple of users reported that at least for them, that was a backdoor route to the IRS.
http://www.irs.gov/uac/Contact-a-Local-Taxpayer-Advocate
If you can't reach the local Taxpayer Advocate for your state, try the Advocate's national office:
877-777-4778
Also see this article for more info on how the IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service works::
http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc104.html
