Checked the status of my joint return and it said "Your refund has been reduced to pay a past due IRS tax obligation." I know I don't have any unpaid taxes. What do I do?

jillverkaik · ‎June 4, 2019

I'm married, and filed my return jointly. I checked the status of my federal return, and was expecting a refund of $7500 because of my husband's unpredicted low self-employment income. We've filed jointly last year too, through turbotax also. I checked the status of our return and it said "Your refund has been reduced to pay a past due IRS tax obligation" and now it looks like were only getting $6200 back. I know I don't have any unpaid taxes. How do I find out what went wrong, and why didn't this 'unpaid tax' show up when I got my return last year or when I filed this year?

SweetieJean · ‎June 4, 2019

Have you asked your spouse?

jillverkaik · ‎June 4, 2019

Yes, we can't figure it out. Why wouldn't this have come up last year or right when I filed this year?

SweetieJean · ‎June 4, 2019

https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc203

jillverkaik · ‎June 4, 2019

We don't have any child support, we've paid all our state taxes as required when we've filed with turbotax, and we have no unemployment debts as we've never collected unemployment.

VolvoGirl · ‎June 4, 2019

If it says for a IRS tax then it sounds like for a federal tax due for a prior year. Not a debt you owe. Have you paid all your tax returns? Maybe they adjusted your income on a prior year so you owe more tax. You should have got letters about it before. Guess you will have to call 1-800-829-1040

Checked the status of my joint return and it said "Your refund has been reduced to pay a past due IRS tax obligation." I know I don't have any unpaid taxes. What do I do?

After you file

After you file

After you file

After you file

After you file