Many taxpayers are frustrated by IRS delays and a lack of information from Where’s My Refund
Going into this tax season we knew that refunds were going to be delayed. Right off the bat the IRS increased the time frame within which most people can expect their refund. Instead of the old 8-15 days it suddenly became “under 21 days.”
Then the fiscal cliff nuttiness in Congress pushed the start of the season back two weeks to January 30th. These two changes alone meant that lots of people would be getting their money 2-3 weeks later than usual.
But as the tax season has progressed, the IRS has run into even more problems. Before the start of the season this year the IRS made some changes to its system to try to cut down on instances of tax fraud and identity theft, which affected over a million taxpayers last year. This is a huge relief to anyone who’s had their Social Security number or refund stolen.
Once the season started, however, the IRS discovered some problems with this new system that required a little fine-tuning. These adjustments caused many returns to be delayed for an additional week.
Now the IRS is experiencing even more delays, many of which are affecting the Where’s My Refund tool that millions of taxpayers check obsessively to track the progress of their refund. For many, the tool has been providing absolutely no information about when they can expect their refund. The IRS hopes to have the problem resolved within a few days, but for now, all anxious taxpayers can do is wait.
The message from the IRS reads:
We are aware that some taxpayers who have filed electronically and received an acknowledgement from the IRS are concerned when they visit ‘Where’s My Refund’ and are told that we have no information regarding their return. This is a temporary situation, and we expect to resolve the matter in a few days. At that time, taxpayers will be able to get an expected refund date when they visit ‘Where’s My Refund.’
Here’s what you can do: be patient. Repeatedly calling the IRS and complaining isn’t going to get your money any faster. In fact, it’s probably just slowing the agency down. The same goes for your tax preparer. They are not in control of your return, the do not have any inside information from the IRS, and they cannot do anything to speed that agency’s processing of your return.
If your return was accepted by the IRS, rest assured that they have it and they are working as fast as a massive federal bureaucracy can to get your refund out to you. Keep calm and, well, carry on.
Photo via [ rachael ] on Flickr.
I file 1/27, the IRS accepted 02/04/17. 02/22/17 recieved letter 4883, verified 02/24/17. Told 9wks. WMR still says it is being processed. This is nonsense. Direct Deposit is supposed to be with in 21 days. 9wks, REALLY!!!!
I have filed my taxes in 2014 & have not received my refund . I have called every years since then. The questioned my dependants I provided all the information they required of me. They told me all information was satisfactory. The first years it was give it 4 ro 6 weeks. They second years it was being transferred from department to department only to be put on hold for hours. I have received my 2015 &16 refund with no problem using the same dependants. If I owed them it would be a totally different story. What other avenue can I take. Should I resubmit my 2014 taxes?
Since your 2014 tax return is in their hands already, if you were to resubmit your 2014 tax return, it would inevitably slow down the process even further. Unfortunately there does not seem to be any other avenues other than awaiting on the further updates the IRS will provide to you.
I filed my return on 1/26 I did use a replacement pin I was told 6 to 8 weeks from Feb 17th the day the verification process received my return why is this taking so long tomorrow is the 1st of march how much longer is this going to take DOES ANYONE HAVE ANSWERS or going through the same problem?
I filed using a replacement ip pin on 01/21/2016 they told me 8 weeks I don’t understand the replacement comes for the irs really it should not be a problem.who knows how long it really take or have got there refund using replacement ip pin???
Have u got ur refund tara? Im in the same situation:/
What is 1541 in reference to tax refund delays?
Hi Patty,
This is an IRS internal reference code used to reference tax returns that have been delayed for some reason. This does not necessarily mean that anything went wrong when processing your tax return. This code can reference the IRS having an overflow of tax returns being submitted; causing refunds to be issued later than planned.