IRS is holding millions of tax returns, delaying refunds…

The IRS is holding 29 million tax returns for manual processing, delaying tax refunds for many Americans. The delays are prompting some taxpayers to fret over social media about weeks of waiting in limbo for their money. Here at Mac Neal LLC we understand, we have gotten a volume of calls regarding delayed returns.

Typically, the IRS sends most refunds within three weeks (21 Days) of taxpayers filing their return. But this year is complicated by a several issues, including a backlog of 2019 paper tax returns that the IRS was unable to process after shuttering its offices during the coronavirus pandemic.

recent notice from the IRS said that some people may experience a longer than average wait for their payments. That may especially impact tax returns that need a correction due to changes made by the Recovery Rebate Credit — a tax credit adjustment for people who were owed more stimulus money — or to verify income for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)and Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC), according to the agency.

“This work does not require us to correspond with taxpayers but does require special handling by an IRS employee, so in these instances, it is taking the IRS more than 21 days to issue any related refund,” the IRS said in a March 18post.

The IRS has gone through more than 91 million individual tax returns filed for the2020 tax year and issued more than 68 million refunds so far. The IRS has also distributed more than 161 million payments for the third stimulus check over the past several weeks, adding to its workload during the current tax season.

Mac Neal LLC understands that this may not provide much comfort to you if you are still waiting on your tax refund. However, please be patient and continue to wait, there is not much more that can be done at this juncture.

While the IRS has warned that some people may face delays, it suggests that taxpayers check the status of their refund using the “Where’s My Refund?” tool on its site. Notably, however, the tool only tells taxpayers that their return is being processed — it doesn’t provide details such as when the refund will be issued or if the taxpayer needs to give the IRS additional information.

“6 weeks since IRS accepted my return and still no update. ‘It has been received and being processed.’ How long does it take to process?” one taxpayer wrote on Twitter. “Others got theirs in 2 weeks, 4 weeks.”

Calling the IRS? Good luck

Calling the IRS for information may not be much help, either.

Many frustrated taxpayers may attempt to call the IRS for a status update on their tax refund, however it is very difficult to get through on their lines. In addition, Mac Neal LLC has called on behalf of many taxpayers, however the responses are standard and not helpful. The consistent feedback has been, “Your return is still processing, it is in another department for further review and processing, we do not have any further information, please allow 6 to 8 weeks from the date in which you filed. Should there be any issues, a notice will be mailed to the address on file”.

Calls to the IRS’ Accounts Management lines — the primary phone contact for taxpayers— are up 300% this filing season, but IRS employees are answering only about 7%of all such calls.

The delays in issuing refunds this year are “unavoidable” given the complexity of the tax changes authorized by several stimulus packages, which included three rounds of stimulus checks and new tax credits.

For instance, the stimulus package signed into law at the end of December came too late for the IRS to adjust its forms and computer systems for provisions related to the EITC and the ACTC. That means tax returns with this issue must be corrected by hand rather than via computer, a tax advocate stated.

These returns must be corrected manually are “in ‘suspense’ until an IRS employee can review it. Essentially, the return is in a queue waiting to be reviewed and processed, and during this time, it is not evident on IRS systems why the return is being held.

Mac Neal LLC understands that this is frustrating for taxpayers who are banking on their tax refund to pay for essentials or to take care of their debts. Three of four Americans receive a tax refund, with the typical payment amounting to $3,660. Please continue to be patient and mindful that we cannot speed up the processing time and that having us call expends both of our time without any productive outcome, other than possibly a reassured mind. It is our intent to ease your worry and reassure you that your return is processing! We hope that this has explained what is going on and we are here for you if you need anything!

 

How to Notify the IRS your Address has Changed

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If you filed a joint return and are still residing with the same spouse, both you and your spouse should provide your names, social security numbers, new address and signatures on the form or statement.

If you filed a joint return and you now have separate addresses, each of you should notify us of your new, separate addresses.

Authorized representatives filing a form or written statement to change an address for a taxpayer must attach a copy of their power of attorney or Form 2848, Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative. Unauthorized third parties can’t change a taxpayer’s address.

Changes of address through the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) may update your address of record on file with us based on what they retain in their National Change of Address (NCOA) database. However, even when you notify the USPS, not all post offices forward government checks, so you should still notify us.

For changes of address relating to an employment tax return, we issue confirmation notices (Notices 148A and 148B) for the change to both the new and former address.

It can generally take four to six weeks after receipt for a change of address request to fully process.