Your Tax Refund Is Delayed. It Could Be Years.

Your Tax Refund Is Delayed. It Could Be Years.

Taxpayers waiting for a refund check usually get their money within 21 days of filing a return. The unlucky ones can sometimes wait years.

Refunds can be delayed when computers at the Internal Revenue Service flag a return for a variety of reasons. There might be an error, inconsistency or indication of possible identity theft that requires a human to check it. Taxpayers might not get an explanation.

Chris Horan is on month 13 of waiting for his roughly $30,000 refund from tax year 2022. Since his accountant filed his return last March, he regularly checks the Internal Revenue Service’s Where’s My Refund site. The message is always the same: “We have received your tax return and it is being reviewed.”

Horan, 42, head of sales for a financial-services software company in Virginia Beach, Va., said he and his accountant have both called the IRS. The representatives keep suggesting to try again in another 60 days.

“In no world would I think I’d be in April 2024 waiting for a 2022 refund,” he said. This year’s refund, meanwhile, arrived on April 8, just 20 days after he e-filed.

Since many Americans rely on refund checks to pay down debt or make ends meet this time of year, any delays can be a hardship. The IRS said extreme refund delays are rare and have been exacerbated by recent backlogs in returns requiring additional review.

The backlog has been reduced since the pandemic. As of Dec. 21, the latest IRS data available, there were 686,000 individual returns waiting to be processed—mostly from last tax season and most due refunds. Of those, 600,000 require error correction or special handling. There are also 844,000 amended returns in the queue.

Taxpayers whose refunds get stuck in purgatory, as in Horan’s case, should escalate the issue past the regular IRS customer-service line, tax advisers said.

“When things go well, they go very, very well, but when something hits a snag, it’s a mess,” said Phyllis Jo Kubey, an enrolled agent in New York City. She just heard from a cellist client who got a $1,500 refund for tax year 2020 on March 8, plus $241.80 in interest.

How long does the IRS have to send a refund?

Taxpayers might have to file by April 15, but the IRS has no deadline for issuing a refund check. Beyond 45 days after receiving the return, the government does have to pay interest. The interest rate resets quarterly and is now at 8%.

“That’s the upside if your refund is delayed,” said Twila Midwood, an enrolled agent in Rockledge, Fla. One caveat: Interest payments from the IRS are taxable.

When refunds are delayed, taxpayers should first check the Where’s My Refund tool to see if there is an explanation, the IRS said. To see the refund’s status, you need your Social Security number or taxpayer identification number, your filing status and the amount of your expected refund.

After waiting more than six weeks for a refund, Midwood says the next step is to call the IRS.

How long a refund is delayed depends on the issue with the return. The IRS often can correct math errors without involving taxpayers, so those refunds might be delayed just a few weeks. If there are concerns about possible identity theft, taxpayers could wait more than a year, according to the IRS.

Whom to call for help

When all else fails, file a 911. That is the IRS form to get assistance from the Taxpayer Advocate Service, a watchdog that helps taxpayers resolve problems with the IRS.

The advocate can step in when a tax issue causes financial hardship or if an IRS process or procedure just isn’t working as it should. They don’t take on every request.

John Quilter, a retired Jaguar Land Rover warranty manager in Eugene, Ore., filled out a Form 911 to request help because the IRS mistakenly said he owed money when he was due a refund. The agency had failed to recognize an estimated tax payment.

Quilter’s 2022 return showed a refund due of nearly $5,000, but he got a notice last April from the IRS saying that he owed more than $5,000. He mailed in proof that the IRS owed him money, but then started getting letters from two different IRS offices saying they needed another 60 days to resolve the matter.

He filed Form 911 in November, and in December he got his refund.

In some cases, Kubey recommends that taxpayers reach out to their representatives in Congress. One client had a situation where the IRS and the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, which issues refund checks, kept pointing fingers at each other. Sen. Chuck Schumer’s office helped get the refund check delivered.

But the process can drag out even with a senator on your side. Sandy Lerner, of Brooklyn, N.Y., contacted Sen. Schumer’s office last July because he had been waiting for a nearly $9,000 tax refund for his late mother since he filed an amended return in November 2020. She had unreimbursed medical expenses that weren’t claimed on the original return.

Now he has been getting monthly updates from Schumer’s office that suggest a refund is forthcoming but say there is something wrong with IRS systems.

“At least Schumer’s office keeps me updated, with an entertaining message every month or so, even if they, too, are unable to penetrate the IRS bureaucracy,” Lerner said.

Write to Ashlea Ebeling at [email protected]