The big question many taxpayers are asking now is: “Where’s my refund?”
Tax refund illustration isolated on white background
Taxpayers waiting for refunds find little help from IRS’s ‘Where’s My Refund’ tool
You’ve got a shot at getting straightforward answer via IRS.gov. But then again, maybe not. Many taxpayers — who can’t get through the jammed phone lines at the Internal Revenue Service — are complaining that the “Where’s My Refund?” tool isn’t helping them, either, according to critics.
“If they use the ‘Where’s My Refund?‘ or ‘Where’s My Amended Return?‘ tools, they get in essence, technologically, what would be a shrugged shoulder,” U.S. Rep. Jody Hice said during a House Oversight and Reform subcommittee hearing April 21.
The Georgia Republican said his office has heard from taxpayers who are “absolutely at their wit’s end.”
Once the IRS processes the return and approves the refund, the “Where’s My Refund?” tool will give an expected refund date and explain any changes to the refund — if the refund is smaller because it was used to offset back taxes, for example, or if a math error was corrected.
“They’ve not gotten their tax refunds and they need that money.”
Not being able to figure out what’s going only triggers even more anxiety for taxpayers who are waiting and waiting for tax refunds that can be used to pay the rent, cover car payments, buy food and pay for other necessities.
Many, particularly those who file paper returns, end up being unsure whether the return was somehow lost in the mail. Or maybe, they wonder, whether the IRS lost that paper return somewhere at the loading docks.
The “Where’s My Refund?” tool at IRS.gov received more than 632 million hits last year and already more than 300 million hits this year, according to testimony by National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins during the hearing.
The tool, though, was unable to answer or provide useful information for taxpayers whose returns are caught up in processing delays, she said.
Taxpayers continue to check the IRS online tool, holding onto the hope that this could be the day that they’d see a change in status.
Much of the problem involves paper returns, which are facing a huge backlog from last year. The IRS processing system calls for first addressing the backlog for last year’s paper returns before processing the paper returns filed in 2022.
Collins said the IRS has 3 million tax returns and another 3.6 million amended returns that haven’t been processed from last year. Another 5 million returns are waiting for taxpayers to resolve specific issues.
Add to that, she said, another 9 million paper returns that were filed in 2022.
Refund delays also can be triggered if an e-filed or paper return has a mistake. Trouble spots include errors involving the recovery rebate credit and the child tax credit, missing information, and cases where the IRS suspects identity theft or fraud.
As of April 7, the IRS had issued 9.4 million math error notices — and 8.3 million of these notices were related to the recovery rebate and the child tax credit, according to a blog post by Collins.
The IRS now includes a 60-day expiration date on its math error notices to let taxpayers know the deadline for contesting the adjustment.
The IRS will send a letter if more information is needed or if you need to verify your identity.
“The resolution of these issues could take 90 to 120 days depending on how quickly and accurately you respond,” the IRS said, “and the ability of IRS staff trained and working under social distancing requirements to complete the processing of your return.”
More: IRS backlog and drama won’t end at midnight April 18
More: Average tax refunds higher than last year but paper headaches remain
Many could wait six months to get some refunds
The massive inventory backlog, Collins said, will mean that it could take six months or more for taxpayers who filed paper returns to receive their refund cash.
While Collins has warned of this six-month delay in the past, many taxpayers aren’t watching congressional hearings to get updates on their tax situation.
I first reported on March 25 that Collins was issuing a six-month warning for potential refund delays for taxpayers who filed paper returns. But again, I’d be willing to bet my tax refund that millions of taxpayers who filed paper returns have no idea that the delay could be six months this year or possibly longer.
The IRS has generally been able to process a refund within two weeks for an electronically filed tax return and up to six weeks for a paper tax return.
One reader emails me regularly about all the delays he’s seeing with his refund.
The Eastpointe man said he mailed his federal return Feb. 8 and still had not seen any cash in 11 weeks.
The reader, who asked not to be named because he did not want others to know about his finances, is expecting $2,997 for his federal refund. He received his state of Michigan refund in mid-March. Last year, he said, he waited well over two months for the federal refund.
“Tried calling IRS twice this week; put me on hold, couldn’t get any answers,” he wrote.
The “Where’s My Refund?” tool isn’t giving him any clues, either, he said.
IRS issued about 78 million refunds
In general, tax experts say, this tax season doesn’t look like the all-out disaster that hit last year.
Millions of people have already received their refund cash. The IRS issued 78.2 million refunds through April 15, up 6.7% from a year ago.
The average refund was $3,103 this tax season through April 15, up 8% from the same time a year ago, according to the latest data from the IRS.
The federal income tax deadline was April 18 this year but last year it was extended until May 17.
For many taxpayers, the “Where’s My Refund?” tool — launched in 2002 — is the first place to look for some answers.
The tool offers personalized refund information as soon as the IRS processes the tax return and approves the related refund, according to the IRS.
If that paper return is caught up in the backlog, though, the IRS hasn’t processed it yet and the “Where’s My Refund” tool isn’t going to quickly give you any idea when you’ll get your money.
How to track your refund
In order to use “Where’s My Refund” at IRS.gov, you’d need to provide your Social Security number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, your filing status and the “exact whole dollar amount of the expected refund.”
You’d find your refund amount on Line 35a of the 1040 for the 2021 tax year.
The earliest that you could check the status of your refund is within 24 hours after the IRS has received an e-filed return or four weeks after the taxpayer mails a paper return.
The refund tool updates once daily, the IRS notes, “so there’s no need to check more often.”
The IRS said taxpayers without access to a computer can call the IRS Refund Hotline at 800-829-1954.
The “Where’s My Refund” online tool receives information from different sources. The refund tracker bar can tell you whether the return has been received, whether the refund was approved and whether the refund was issued or sent.
The IRS said the tool can give the user information for one of more than 120 unique refund status situations.
Tax experts note that some taxpayers will see a notice saying there’s “no record found.” But that can mean the return is still being processed.
Again, you can face more confusion with a paper return, which has to be entered into the system by an IRS employee and will face extra long delays this tax season.
The IRS said that taxpayers who filed paper returns can check “Where’s My Refund?” online at IRS.gov. The tool could tell you whether the IRS has received your return or is processing or reviewing it.
“We’re working hard to get through the carryover inventory,” the IRS stated on its operations page. “Please don’t file a second tax return or contact the IRS about the status of your return.”
Once the IRS processes the return and approves the refund, the “Where’s My Refund?” tool will give an expected refund date and explain any changes to the refund — if the refund is smaller because it was used to offset back taxes, for example, or if a math error was corrected.
The “Where’s My Refund” information also is available via the IRS2Go app for mobile devices. Information is available in English and Spanish.
One myth, according to the IRS, is that one can get better information on refund date by ordering a tax transcript. But the IRS says that won’t work.
Instead, you’d use a transcript to validate past income and tax filing status for mortgage or other loans.
The IRS has heard feedback from taxpayers who would like the ability to see more than one tax year on the “Where’s My Refund?” tool or would like additional information on their return while in process, according to Luis Garcia, a spokesman for the IRS in Detroit.
“We are looking at those suggestions to see what is possible,” Garcia said.
Written by Susan Tomper for Detroit Free Press ~ April 28, 2022
