Late federal refund?

[mistermike40]

Good News. I just checked "Where's my refund" and it says that the refund has been approved and issued. It should hit my bank on 5/19. It was accepted on February 21 so it took three months. Apparently it was flagged for identity fraud.

Congrats! Mine's still being processed (since Feb. 23)...

 

[Sue J]

I e-filed on 4/11/21 and it was accepted right away and then for three weeks I got the "it will be 21 days after your return is accepted" response when I checked "Where's My Refund".

When it was actually 21 days the message now says it's still being processed. That's ok, I know they are overwhelmed. I can wait, I don't need the money. And that's a nice place to be!

 

[Koolau]

Significant refund this year. Haven't checked anything, but no refund after almost 2 months. I guess uncle needs the money, but YMMV.

 

[NgineER]

I mailed ours two months ago and it is still not showing up in the system. Significant refund as well

 

[sunnysideup]

We are also waiting since Feb 20.

We thinks it’s due to a reconciliation on our 1040 to get the 2020 stimulus. Our 2019 return had us over the limit, which although an anomaly, prevented us from getting the checks. Since our 2020 income was within the limit, we are owed those monies, upping our refund a lot.

We figure that’s what holding ours up...

 

[freedomatlast]

I mailed our return in March and it still isn't showing up in the IRS system. I've called about it twice. The second time the agent told me not to worry (in other words, stop calling in about it), they had records of both my calls, that there were rooms still full of unprocessed 2019 returns, and not to expect a change in status anytime soon. Your tax dollars at work. Can't imagine any MegaCorp operating this way.

 

[Fermion]

The crappy thing would be if someone with a big refund last year needed that money to make an estimated tax payment this year...you might miss the deadline while waiting on your refund.

(yes, I guess you could have selected "apply my refund to next year's taxes", but what if you filed before you had some unforeseen tax event?)

So the IRS is holding $20,000 of your money and yet will charge you interest on a missed estimated tax payment...

 

[Backpacker]

I mailed ours two months ago and it is still not showing up in the system. Significant refund as well

Significant refund this year. Haven't checked anything, but no refund after almost 2 months. I guess uncle needs the money, but YMMV.

Like NgineER and Koolau I mailed mine mid February and still not even showing as received. Significant refund too, my cynical side says the IRS is prioritizing inversely on refund amount. Initial projection for 2021 is another substantial refund, I'm going to adjust DW pension withholding to zero in a few months to avoid this next year.

I wouldn't paper file but QBI aggregation is not supported in e-file [emoji58]

 

[RetireeRobert]

Filed and mailed paper return February 23. Did not show up in "Where's My Refund" system until about almost two months later in April. Has now been another month since showing in system, but still shows as "still in processing", and no estimated date for when sizeable refund will be direct deposited.

 

[retire2020]

I filed online on 2/22/2021 and still waiting for my refund.

 

[Dtail]

I filed in May, so can't complain yet.

 

[Finance Dave]

I filed yesterday (not my fault...long story but the CPA had me come in and sign yesterday, and he filed electronically). We are getting a $3,700 refund. I would prefer to be close to zero...but our income and therefore quarterly estimated payments are quite volatile due to some recent changes in our situation...should smooth out in about 2-3 more years.

 

[SecondCor521]

So the IRS is holding $20,000 of your money and yet will charge you interest on a missed estimated tax payment...

If the IRS does not process the refund within IIRC 45 days after the tax filing deadline, they pay interest.

I think the annual rate is about 3%, so although I'm annoyed that I haven't received my refund yet (e-filed and accepted ~3/17), I'm actually sort of rooting for them to delay it long enough to pay me that interest, since that's far above what I'd get elsewhere.

(If the IRS does pay you interest, it is taxable interest income on Schedule B in the year which you receive it.)

 

[karen1972]

Nice to see I'm not the only one. I filed electronically end of March and I assumed it got flagged for manual review for some reason. Not sure why as pretty sure I didn't do anything differently. Ironically I was worried about my BFs as he had a very complicated return and we spent days reading tax code to figure out how to fill his in and he got his right away.

 

[Koolau]

If the IRS does not process the refund within IIRC 45 days after the tax filing deadline, they pay interest.

I think the annual rate is about 3%, so although I'm annoyed that I haven't received my refund yet (e-filed and accepted ~3/17), I'm actually sort of rooting for them to delay it long enough to pay me that interest, since that's far above what I'd get elsewhere.

(If the IRS does pay you interest, it is taxable interest income on Schedule B in the year which you receive it.)

I was thinking the same thing. I'll have to let my bank know that I'm going to take money from my account and begin overpaying the gummint on my quarterlies. I'll make more money on their interest than at the bank. Of course, I'm kidding! Gimme a break! YMMV

 

[John Galt III]

I mailed our return in March and it still isn't showing up in the IRS system. I've called about it twice. The second time the agent told me not to worry (in other words, stop calling in about it), they had records of both my calls, that there were rooms still full of unprocessed 2019 returns, and not to expect a change in status anytime soon. Your tax dollars at work. Can't imagine any MegaCorp operating this way.

It makes me less worried to hear about all the paper filers who are still waiting to even get their tax forms acknowledged as received. I mailed mine in March 1, 2021 for a refund of $600. Every time I check 'where's my refund' it says 'no information'. Haven't checked for a month, though. Actually forgot about it, lol.

 

[NgineER]

The irs site finally says that my refund is still processing. It only took 2.5 months for them to acknowledge receiving it. Took them long enough!

 

[sturbridge]

I finally got my 2019 refund after 14 months.

 

[Koolau]

Our significant (sized) Fed refund hit our bank acct. less than a month after e-file - and we filed in early April. No idea how "normal" that would be so YMMV.

 

[NgineER]

The irs site finally says that my refund is still processing. It only took 2.5 months for them to acknowledge receiving it. Took them long enough!

Processing complete a month later and we will be getting $35 more than my calculations said. Thank you - I'll take that. Payment posted in my account the same day it said it was sent.

This will mean that we will get the full stimulus for 2020 as well.

 

[jazz4cash]

Pretty hot today. IRS says they don’t have our return. Last month they said it would take awhile since we filed Form 4852 due to incorrect 1099r that the bank would/could not correct. They sent IRS a letter instead which made matters worse. There is no way in #%?!! IRS can possibly track IRA transfers and rollovers and correction/substitute form process is a joke. Really irks me they don’t acknowledge any backlog. The refund is tiny.

I came here looking for that special number to reach a live rep.

 

[urn2bfree]

We efiled in March. Big refund is due for us for a change and still no sign of refund being processed. I welcome the 3% interest but - When do they pay interest from April 15? Or May 17?

 

[NgineER]

We efiled in March. Big refund is due for us for a change and still no sign of refund being processed. I welcome the 3% interest but - When do they pay interest from April 15? Or May 17?

April 15th

 

[Sue J]

I checked my bank account today and SURPRISE! our Fed refund is there! I e-filed on 4/11/21. I had been checking "Where's My Refund" periodically but I hadn't checked this week.

I was expecting $1264 and the deposit is $1391.20. Sure, there may be a bit of interest since it's 4 months late but $127 more looks like more than just interest. So I checked "Where's My Refund" and found some info.

"We made changes to your tax return that changed the amount of your refund.
You will receive a notice that explains the changes we made to your tax return. You should receive your notice and the balance of your refund, $1,391.20, by August 18, 2021.
For more details about the changes we made to your tax return, please select the "Details" button."

The DETAILS button goes to -

"We changed the amount of taxable social security benefits on your tax return because there was an error in the computation of the taxable amount. NOTE:Publication 915, Social Security and Equivalent Railroad Retirement Benefits, provides additional information related to computing your taxable Social Security Benefits. Please read the following information related to your tax situation:

• Tax Topic 423 - Social Security and Equivalent Railroad Retirement Benefits
• Form 1040 Instructions - See Instructions for Income, Social Security Benefits.
• Understanding Your IRS Notice"

AhHa! This is something I dealt with when I filed. I had Social Security income last year. I also had Unemployment income over the excluded amount of $10,200. (For those of you who are unfamiliar with Unemployment income, it's always taxable, but due to the 2020 pandemic the first $10,200 is excluded. This is equal to the extra Fed amount of $600 for 17 weeks.) I waited to file the taxes until after the IRS decided how to handle the exclusion. I used FreeTaxUsa and when I looked at the filled out worksheet for figuring out how much of your SS was taxable, using the reduced amount of Unemployment, I was in that small bracket of having less than 85% of the SS being taxable. But on FreeTaxUsa it showed the full amount of Unemployment being used to calculate the taxable SS on the worksheet.

So I messaged them through their website and got a response right away -

"The new unemployment exclusion will not change the taxable amount of your social security income. For the exclusion, we are required to use the new, updated instructions from the IRS, which can be located at:

https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/new-exclusion-of-up-to-10200-of-unemployment-compensation

Note that it says,

"When figuring the following deductions or exclusions from income, if you are asked to enter an amount from Schedule 1, line 7 enter the total amount of unemployment compensation reported on line 7 (unreduced by any exclusion amount) and if you are asked to enter an amount from Schedule 1, line 8, enter the amount from line 3 of the Unemployment Compensation Exclusion Worksheet. "

After this paragraph, you'll see a list of deductions that apply. "Taxable social security benefits" are listed first.

The instructions state specifically that the full amount of your unemployment compensation should be used to determine your taxable social security benefits."

I thanked them for the quick response and for the link to the actual IRS rule. Makes sense, I'm fine with that. I filed using my entire unemployment income for the SS worksheet, which resulted in 85% of my SS being taxable.

Has the IRS revisited the issue of how the Unemployment Exclusion is applied to the SS taxable calculation? Using the entire Unemployment income 85% of my SS was taxable. After excluding the $10,200 only 74.2% is taxable. And the difference in tax is $114.

Hmmm... I hope the letter explains that. I should get it within a week.

The change is in our favor so I'm not questioning it or complaining. Just glad to finally have the refund.

 

[cathy63]

... Has the IRS revisited the issue of how the Unemployment Exclusion is applied to the SS taxable calculation? Using the entire Unemployment income 85% of my SS was taxable. After excluding the $10,200 only 74.2% is taxable. And the difference in tax is $114.

Hmmm... I hope the letter explains that. I should get it within a week.

The change is in our favor so I'm not questioning it or complaining. Just glad to finally have the refund.

Yes, the IRS changed their interpretation of the law and lots of tax software was implemented with the first interpretation, so they are fixing returns as they find them. Here's an article that explains the timeline: https://www.currentfederaltaxdevelo...-of-arpa-excludable-unemployment-compensation

On March 12, 2021, the IRS provided updated instructions on their website for preparing returns that have excludable unemployment compensation.[1] However, on March 23, 2021 the IRS made a significant change in those instructions.[2]

Originally the IRS instructions had taxpayers include the unemployment compensation in determining the modified AGI (reading “without regard to this section” in IRC §85(c)(2)(B) to mean without regard to the exclusion at IRC §85(c)) but now they have decided that means without regard to any unemployment compensation covered by §85.