OK. I waited to file this year, even though I usually do it in Feb, as soon as I have the documents. I thought I was going to have to pay, because I made a lot of money in the stock market in 2019. Turned out the profit got offset enough by the fact that I didn’t work for the six weeks I was in Costa Rica, and that I had some deductions this year I don’t usually have, so we are still getting a pretty decent refund.
We file online, and get direct deposit.
In past years, it’s often taken less than a week to get the refund, but that is with filing in early Feb. The projected date right now is 21 days from filing; however, that’s always been the case. In past years, they always told us to wait 21 days, and we still got it in six.
Maybe now, with waiting so long, not to mention with a short staff due to COVID-19, maybe it really will take 21 days.
Anyone else file very recently with direct deposit and e-file who got their refund either quickly or slowly relative to other years?
I don’t really know how the e-files work-- does a human really check every one, or does a computer do it, and issue the refund if nothing gets flagged? does anyone know?
I believe the way it works is like this:
The efiled return is checked by a computer program to make sure there are no errors. (If there are, your return is rejected, usually within 24 hours).
If no errors, the refund is put into a queue for payment. They usually have a schedule posted, but they can fall a little behind for various reasons. Mine have always been paid exactly on the date specified.
In a separate process, your return is sent through a computer program called the discriminant, which checks for audit flags. If the program decides there is potential extra tax from an audit, your return will be flagged so a human will look at it. That’s a much longer process, taking many months.
I got this same question from a client of mine and asked my boss, and he says that the IRS processing center that handles suspect returns is way behind, having been shut down for months due to Covid. If you’re expecting a refund and the IRS has any reason to believe it might not be legitimate, they’ll kick it over for extra processing to verify the refund is legit. Normally this doesn’t take more than a couple weeks, but this year it’s more like a couple months. The guy who asked me actually got his refund the next day, so I suggest checking again now!