Still Waiting on Fed Refund After 33+ Weeks?

[Midpack]

It's been over 33 weeks since I eFiled our 2021 return, and over 24 weeks since I paper filed our Amended return. I know the IRS is understaffed and overwhelmed, but I've never had a delay even remotely like this since I began filing in 1972! My return did include the new Form 1116 Sched B which I've heard has been an issue for some? Nothing on "Where's My Refund?" and they won't answer the phone either - I called today for the first time, trying to be patient/understanding. Jeeeez...

 

[pacergal]

Oh, My! You have been patient, I would have been calling after 2-3 months.
Sorry you are experiencing this.
Is there an email option, along with calling?

 

[Aerides]

Paper? Not surprised, there are many stories about these delays. IRS has been critically understaffed for years and your situation is the result.

 

[jebmke]

24 weeks for a paper return (1040x) is not exceptional.

 

[robls]

It's been over 33 weeks since I eFiled our 2021 return, and over 24 weeks since I paper filed our Amended return. I know the IRS is understaffed and overwhelmed, but I've never had a delay even remotely like this since I began filing in 1972! My return did include the new Form 1116 Sched B which I've heard has been an issue for some? Nothing on "Where's My Refund?" and they won't answer the phone either - I called today for the first time, trying to be patient/understanding. Jeeeez...

We had the same issue. Filed in mid-March.
Call your local representative. Talked to one of his aides, and 10 days later the refund was deposited in our checking account.

 

[audreyh1]

I try very very hard not to have a refund.

And if I still do, I have it applied to the next year’s estimated taxes.

Stories like yours confirm my approach.

 

[Midpack]

I try very very hard not to have a refund.

And if I still do, I have it applied to the next year’s estimated taxes.

Stories like yours confirm my approach.

I make sure I have a small Fed and state refund, and apply both to next year as well, probably why I don’t mind being patient. But I’d still like to confirm it’s been processed.

 

[MarieIG]

I filed paper, took some money back (I typically overpaid) and did not have a notable delay with my federal refund.

 

[Act2]

Still waiting after I submitted the additional paperwork (on paper) they requested in mid-August. Online tool says they are still processing it. I sent it by traceable mail so I know that they got it.

 

[orchid55]

I second the recommendation to involve your congressman or senator. They have staff who only deal with IRS problems. We have used them for two years in a row and they were very helpful. No good news on the wait, as both years it took 11 months for the problems to be sorted out. We have had some good luck in reaching a real person on the phone at the IRS by pressing the appropriate number to get a spanish speaking rep. The reps speak english as well and don't seem to mind helping english speakers.

 

[Calpurnia]

Also waiting

I’m also still waiting after a similar timeframe.

But, based on last year, I’m resigned to waiting even longer. My refund last year took exactly 1 year to the day.

No errors, no extra tax owed, no stimulus payment issues, submitted electronically, so no idea what took so long.

 

[audreyh1]

I make sure I have a small Fed and state refund, and apply both to next year as well, probably why I don’t mind being patient. But I’d still like to confirm it’s been processed.

OK - your OP confused me then as I though you were waiting for a refund to be deposited.

Does “Where’s My Refund” also cover the case where it is being applied to next year’s taxes?

 

[Midpack]

OK - your OP confused me then as I though you were waiting for a refund to be deposited.

Does “Where’s My Refund” also cover the case where it is being applied to next year’s taxes?

Supposedly you enter $1 for the refund if you use “Where’s My Refund?” It won’t take “0”. But you could be right.

 

[Another Reader]

I forgot about bonus depreciation for 2021 in paying estimated taxes and am owed a 5 figure refund. CPA filed an extension because of last minute filers that owed money and then filed the return on or around May 1. At the end of May, I got a letter from the IRS asking for some odd information so I called the CPA. They said it was for identification purposes and responded June 1. Nothing from the IRS yet.

The rep, who has the safest seat in the area, does not have staff you can call or e-mail. Maybe it's time to try a senator...

 

[audreyh1]

Supposedly you enter $1 for the refund if you use “Where’s My Refund?” It won’t take “0”. But you could be right.

Well a variation of Where’s My Refund was used for finding out about the initial Covid payment and providing bank deposit info and it did not recognize the $0 case which covered folks applying refunds to the following year’s taxes until it was later fixed, so I wondered……

 

[gayl]

I try very very hard not to have a refund.

And if I still do, I have it applied to the next year’s estimated taxes.

Stories like yours confirm my approach.

+1

 

[cyber888]

It's been over 33 weeks since I eFiled our 2021 return, and over 24 weeks since I paper filed our Amended return. I know the IRS is understaffed and overwhelmed, but I've never had a delay even remotely like this since I began filing in 1972! My return did include the new Form 1116 Sched B which I've heard has been an issue for some? Nothing on "Where's My Refund?" and they won't answer the phone either - I called today for the first time, trying to be patient/understanding. Jeeeez...

They took 1 year and 2 months to do mine, from the time the got my paper amended return. I hope u get it soon, but 1 year wait is possible

 

[bltkmt]

Same here....so frustrating.

 

[Midpack]

A little frustrated, but I'm more saddened at how overwhelmed the IRS is, since Covid turned them upside down.

I eFiled on 3/13 ($151 refund), amended w paper return on 5/17 ($1948 refund) and heard nothing - until yesterday I got a letter from the IRS acknowledging the refund amount for the amended return only. Today I receive a USTreasury check for $2012? It appears we got a check with interest for the amended return refund as it's 3.3% more than the original refund amount. Still nothing on the original 3/13 refund?

On both returns I specified "apply to our 2022 taxes" so I didn't want a check in the mail.

Oh and the interest they paid is taxable income for 2022.

So it took over 40 weeks from the initial eFile, and we may not be done yet. I have never seen a delay like that in all my years filing returns, and our returns were not complicated...

Bloomberg reports that the IRS is facing a backlog of almost 10 million unprocessed returns for previous years, that's 10 times the normal amount.

IRS staffing has been subjected to repeated cuts and now sits at its lowest in decades. At the same time, pandemic aid and child tax credit amounts from last year will need a lot of attention to keep up with the ever-changing tax law.

The IRS is re-shuffling more than a thousand employees to focus on the backlog of unprocessed tax returns, calling it an all-hands-on-deck situation.

 

[audreyh1]

I could see getting one or two checks for the interest alone, and the refund amount applied to your 2022 taxes, but this sounds different.

We’re you expecting two different refunds? I thought the amended return refund would override the original?

Do you have access to your IRS account online?

 

[Dtail]

My mother still waiting for her refund filed electronically and I just got mine in Oct.

 

[Midpack]

I could see getting one or two checks for the interest alone, and the refund amount applied to your 2022 taxes, but this sounds different.

We’re you expecting two different refunds? I thought the amended return refund would override the original?

Do you have access to your IRS account online?

I assumed the IRS would credit the first amount shortly after 3/13, and the second amount shortly after 5/17. I used TT for my original and amended return, the amended return refund amount was in addition to the original return refund amount - it showed the math. It's pretty clear I got a (unwanted) refund check for the amended return amount plus interest. Still no confirmation on the 3/13 smaller refund.

 

[Another Reader]

My CPA has filed my returns for at least 15 years. Been in business for probably close to 40 years. In the filing season for 2021 last spring, his office got swamped with last minute filers that owed. He filed an extension for me around April 1 as I was due a refund, and filed the return electronically the first week in May.

About 3 weeks later, I got a letter from the IRS asking for two odd pieces of documentation. I called the CPA, the office manager explained it was because of identity theft issues, and that they had received a number of these requests. I gave them the documents and they sent them to the IRS with a letter. They have heard nothing and I have heard nothing since.

At the end of November, I called my congressional representative's office to ask for help with this. Her assistant was able to go through the Taxpayer Advocate's office with a copy of my ID documents to get an explanation. According to the TA person, the return was still being held in the identity theft area. After looking at the return, the history, and my documents, he said he had no idea why it was held up and requested that it be released.

Three weeks later, it's still showing as not processed.

On top of this, the SSA had to use 2020 return to calculate IRMAA because the 2021 was not processed. Since my parent's house was sold in 2020, the MAGI was significantly higher in 2020 than in 2021. I submitted a copy of the CPA copy of the 2021 return to them and am waiting for that to be fixed.

The IRS is the most poorly run, least responsive taxing agency I have ever encountered. If a local or state tax jurisdiction behaved as these folks do, the politicians in charge would likely be dispatched at the next election. The IRS has no accountability, and no one seems to care. At least I'm getting interest on the refund, and now at a higher rate.

 

[audreyh1]

I assumed the IRS would credit the first amount shortly after 3/13, and the second amount shortly after 5/17. I used TT for my original and amended return, the amended return refund amount was in addition to the original return refund amount - it showed the math. It's pretty clear I got a (unwanted) refund check for the amended return amount plus interest. Still no confirmation on the 3/13 smaller refund.

It’s confusing because I didn’t realize there would be two refunds in the case of an amended return. That really makes it messy!

 

[Act2]

Finally, IRS website says 2021 refund is approved and is to be sent on Feb 3. Paper return for my Dad, who died in 2021.