Tax Year Prior to 2020: Tried calling the IRS. No answer on any number or selection. Gov at its finest. I swear I should have stayed working for them. Do nothing all day and get a pension.

[dave119]

Nope, just the same blow-off I have gotten on all other numbers/variations. The old "due to unusually high call volume..." But nobody asks them--how can they have high call volume if they don't accept any calls into the queue?

[AmyC]

Sometimes it takes multiple calls to get through. It is frustrating. If this is about the stimulus, there is additional news today. Please see: Is My Second Stimulus Check on the way?

@dave119

[Docmafia]

They won't even answer the phone on this number, I also worked for the government, wish I could get my ten years back.

[TC241]

been trying to call our dead beat IRS for days now , right at 7am same message . Why cant they just be honest with us (the people that really pay them) and say "we are at home enjoying our government hand outs for covid-19 (its now 2021 by the way) . Changed my dependents to 10 today . They cant work , no need to get paid !!

[kandisnz]

I filed my 2019 taxes LAST year in July and I STILL haven't gotten my refund nor can I even talk to anyone at the IRS or the IRS advocates office. So they are basically holding my money hostage. I had to mail in my return because of Turbo Tax system error so my filing sitting in a pile of unopened mail at the IRS offices. Since it wasn't processed I didn't get my stimulus check either. It's a HUGE CF. Don't expect them to help you. Don't expect anyone to help you. I depend on that money to pay bills and buy food... so It's off to the food banks I go. What a nightmare. 

[kandisnz]

This doesn't work anymore. They just say they are unable to take your call at this time and hang up. 

[ReneeM7122]

Yes, you are correct, it must be very hard to reach the IRS by phone unfortunately.  Here is another idea that hopefully will work for you.  

You can check information about your return through the IRS website using your IRS Online Account.

Online Account is an online system that allows you to securely access your individual account information.  You can view:

• The amount you owe, updated for the current calendar day
• Your balance details by year
• Your payment history and any scheduled or pending payments
• Key information from your most recent tax return
• Payment plan details, if you have one
• Digital copies of select notices from the IRS
• Your Economic Impact Payments (EIP 1 and EIP 2), if any

You can also:

• Make a payment online
• See payment plan options and request a plan via Online Payment Agreement
• Access your tax records via Get Transcript

Here is the link to see your Online Tax Account.

@kandisnz

[kandisnz]

Thanks BUT ... This WOULD be a great answer IF and only IF they have already started processing your return. There is no information on the IRS website that will allow you to contact someone regarding where in the process your return actually is. I have been on the IRS website and followed all of the steps multiple times. My return is NOT in the system and therefore will NOT be on the Where's My Return site. I emailed a question to them using the assistance portal, but they basically told me what you just did. There is NO Help from the IRS at this time. It has been 9 months since I first filed and I am not the only one. We all decided to take this issue up with our House Representative in a massive emailing and calling campaign. This has to end. They can't just hold our money hostage. I have friends getting notices of non-payment and it's because their return hasn't been processed yet and the check is sitting in a pile of mail that has never been touched. If they can process 3 million votes in the days following the election, certainly they can get this handled. 

[DanielV01]

@kandisnz  Your pain is real, and does not deserve to be minimized.  The IRS is a gigantic organization, and COVID-19 had a devastating effect on their ability to process paper-filed returns.  Your return fell into a very unfortunate set of circumstances.  You can try to contact the National Tax Advocacy Group.  That is a department within the IRS that is designed to help taxpayers expedite situations when they are undergoing a hardship.  I cannot comment as to whether or not they can attend your case, but it is another option for the 2019 return.

However, with regards to the stimulus payments, if you never received either of the payments, then you absolutely want to file your 2020 return as soon as possible.  Any stimulus payment you are entitled to are included in the refund, and by providing direct deposit information, you can give the necessary information to receive the latest stimulus payment provided through the American Rescue Plan.

As you notice, TurboTax is not able to directly assist with refund or tax return processing; that is entirely with the IRS.  And it can be an agonizing process, especially in a situation such as yours.  I wish you the best of success in your endeavor, and feel free to post additional details if there is something we can assist with.

[DSS1947]

I tried all day Monday with no luck. On Tuesday, I called exactly at 7am and only had to wait 30 minutes.

[Shelby 427]

Only took 511 tries, just kept hitting redial, to get to the options. Followed the above info, told to hold for next available rep. 20 seconds later get recording telling me no one is available and to try again next day. 

[Samoan29]

Have you tried calling IRS tax advocate in your city? Try to get hold of the tax advocate and they can help you with your situation a lot faster. Hope that helps I called the for the same problem and they help out a lot.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, I did that and they responded very promptly with, "You should call the IRS."

[kandisnz]

I did try the advocate office in my state, but they are not answering phones either.

I just read an article that there are over 2 million returns from 2019 that are still not processed. If they didn't process it, you didn't get a second stimulus check. I didn't get the second check. Since I have already filed for 2020 I did get this round, but I needed the $900 back then! I could have bought food and paid bills. 

[kandisnz]

I appreciate you're comments. I know that they are behind and that IRS spending has been cut by over 20%. They are working at a deficit. I think we all are. I'm wondering what they are going to do with the 2,000,000 returns that haven't been processed when the 2020 returns start coming in. It's tough all around.