I filed my taxes at the start of February, and was due a very large refund due to a miscalculation on my part during the year, as well as a home energy credit. Normally I receive my refund within 2 weeks by filing electronically. After a month I decided to check online, and saw that there was a “delay” processing my form, and it gave me a number and a code to mention to the IRS person.
I’ve called 4 times and I’ve gotten a runaround every time. The story is identical each call:
There is a delay in processing your form.
We do not need you send in any information at this time.
You are not being audited.
At some point in the future you will either receive a letter telling you something is wrong, or else you will receive your refund. We have no ETA on if or when either of these might happen.
There is no one else who can help you. No, contacting your local office will not help you.
The last time I called, I asked exasperatedly “well they can’t hold my refund in limbo forever without telling me what’s wrong with it, right?” and the person I was speaking to said “well…they can hold it indefinitely.” Really? The IRS is allowed to hold your refund indefinitely and not tell you how to get it released? I asked where it stated in the law that they could do that, and they hung up on me. :rolleyes:
I’ve searched online on my specific problem (Code 1121) and the answers seem to range anywhere from “they’re checking something out and you’ll probably get your refund at the end of summer” to “expect a letter telling you something’s wrong”, to “you’re being audited, tough shit.”
Where do folks recommend I go to next? If it was just an audit I wouldn’t be bothered - my conscience is 110% clear and I can defend every single number on my form with full receipts; bring it on, motherfuckers. But this limbo of “we can’t find any problem, but we’re not going to release your refund yet” is maddening. Do I write my Congresspeople? Or do I just sit tight and wait a month or more because this isn’t that unusual?
Try the Taxpayer Advocate Service first. They’re specifically set up to be a go-between for the taxpayer and the rest of the IRS. But they move at the speed of bureaucracy as well, especially if you’re not about to be evicted if you don’t get that refund ASAP.
With certain kinds of issues, a tax pro might know a specific technique. For example, I was able to slightly speed up some work on first-time homebuyer credits last year. Tax pros also have a different phone line to call and may know some better ways to phrase a question or request. Still… even we get the runaround on some issues.
Regret that I DO NOT have a solution to your present dilemma other that wait for the IRS to contact you.
TOO late for this years filing but let me suggest that for 2011 taxes you locate a reliable independent tax accountant to do your taxes. The will charge $150 or thereabouts. This is cheap in comparison to the stew you are in for doing a sloppy job on your own. NOTE: The large chain companies promise large refunds to get your business. Alternatively you could use one of the several DIY tax programs and save a few bucks. These programs are only as good as you are at filling in all the needed information. Since your track record is what it is, spend a few bucks and have peace of mind and let others take the heat.
My taxes are very complicated - it takes about 62 pages including worksheets to do them. An accountant costs about $2,000 and I quit using them when I found out that 1) they made an average of 10 major errors per year, and 2) taxes really aren’t that hard.
I didn’t do a sloppy job. Taxes are not that hard, just a lot of busy work.
I think that’s your answer. If your taxes are 62 pages plus worksheets, that’s going to take a ton of time to sort through for the IRS. Yeah, they should’ve had it finished by now, since you filed so long ago, but they didn’t. Maybe they’re double-checking. And they’re going to be slammed for the near future anyway.
10 major errors per year is a pretty good track record when you’re dealing with hundreds (likely) or maybe even thousands of clients. And if an error is made, it’s on their company, not you. Companies have E&O (errors & omissions) liability insurance for tax preparation errors.
I’m not trying to hate here, but with taxes that complicated it’s borderline foolish not to hire a professional. You wouldn’t be in this mess now if you had. Just something to think about going forward.
I would imagine that your return is waiting at the bottom of a very tall stack of returns waiting to be reviewed by a human being. They can’t tell you how long it’s going to take because they honestly don’t know.
Each of my accountants has very clearly had fine print which claimed they were not responsible for pretty much anything that went wrong on the forms other than “gross negligence” which is fairly challenging to prove when you’re not on TV with Denny Crane representing you, so I would be in an even worse situation now - I’d be waiting and out the money.
And as I said, I do my taxes 110% honestly and I check every single line so many times it’s not even funny. I have nothing to fear in an audit. I just want an end to the limbo.
But the General Question here is “who do I contact next?”
dracoi, I’ll look into that, but I think I may just sit it out for a while longer as others suggest.
I don’t have any answers to the questions, but I will say that in my experience, Una is one of the most meticulous people I know. The problem is almost certainly not because she’s made some sort of mistake.
I don’t have any answers to the questions, but I will say that in my experience, Una is one of the most meticulous people I know. The problem is almost certainly not because she’s made some sort of mistake.
You know, if you don’t absolutely have to have the money right now, you probably are best off just waiting, especially if you are confident that your return is correct.
It is my understanding that if the IRS does not issue a refund within 45 days of the original filing, it has to start paying interest on a refund due. It is also my understanding that the current rate being paid on overpayments this quarter is 4% per annum. That is pretty nice.
Don’t take my word for it, I am not an accountant, etc.
Really, I don’t think there is much you can do other than wait.
Thank you for the vote of confidence. Also, although my forms are huge, 99% of them are the same thing every year: same bank accounts, same investments, same foreign bank accounts, same foreign taxes, same etc. Only the quantities change. I’ve had past forms examined and no one has ever found a single error (other than an error on a worksheet which was in an optional calculations section, and which did not impact my taxes by even $0.01.) I can understand why the IRS might be interested in my form (foreign bank accounts, foreign taxes, like 10 US bank accounts, independent consulting work, etc.) but I don’t feel like I’ve really ever made a mistake.
And if I have made some mistake, I’m cool with that. If I owe then I owe, and if I owe penalties, well, that’s the price of doing it yourself. However, given how small the portion is that might be possible questioned, I’ll wager that even with penalties there’s no way I could even approach what paying an accountant would have cost me over the years. Probably not even for a single year.
I looked it up and it appears you may be correct. They also have crossed 45 days on my return too. Hot damn, that’s a decent rate…provided they do eventually pay, they can hold onto it for a year.
The Tax Advocate service told me “Huh, the IRS is required to either send you a letter telling your refund is delayed, or to release your refund, within 45 days, and it’s been 45 days. Their records show they’ve done neither.” So I then asked “So…what do we do about that?” and the response was “well, we recommend trying to call back in a month.” :rolleyes:
Seriously, I feel like I’m in a fucking Kafka novel. “We have your return and see you’re owed a refund…there is nothing wrong with the return. You’re not being audited and we don’t need any more information. We’re not even telling you we’re delaying it until you ask us. We’re required to send you a letter or release it and we’re not going to do either. Just wait and maybe someday you’ll get it.”
But I’m sure a tax accountant would have fixed all of that, right? The only way a fucking tax accountant would “fix” this is to give me an interest-free loan until my refund eventually comes due. Remember, the IRS themselves allege there is no error actually showing in the records.
But it gets better. I mentioned that the IRS’ own website says I should be getting 3% interest on my refund due to the delay. The IRS response: “We don’t know anything about what’s on our website, but we don’t pay interest on refunds. I don’t know who told you that.” Um, YOUR OWN FUCKING WEBSITE says it?
I now have an attorney I’m meeting with next week to see about what our options are. This is butt-fucking insane! In this country, the IRS is allowed to hold your refund, indefinitely, without stated cause, and that’s just tough shit? I’m the Jose Fucking Padilla of taxpayers and I need this fucking money! :mad:
Finally, a question I can contribute to! (Mr. Roo is a director of a group of “assistors”– basically the bozos you have been talking to - at the IRS). What they have been telling you is very not true, or at least not complete. Sadly, your experience with these “assistors” is not unusual.
First off, you are definitely owed interest on any amount refunded.
According to Mr. Roo, what you should do is as follows:
First, try to call one more time. If you get the same runaround, ask politely to speak to that person’s supervisor. Be sure to get their identifier codes – you may need to document who is giving you the bad information.
If this doesn’t work, or you feel that you don’t want to try and deal with these idiots anymore, try the Taxpayer Advocates Service again. The Taxpayers Advocate should damn well be able to tell you what the problem is with the return, i.e. is it a “machine” problem (something doesn’t fit their algorithms or whatever), or he or she should be able to transfer you to someone who can. You should use the – code words – “hardship case,” which triggers a bunch of hoops the IRS needs to address. Hey, it’s raining, and you need that new roof, right? (Or whatever.)
Finally, and this is what few people know, the ultimate (and most powerful) thing you can do is to march down to your local congressional representative’s office, and request that a “congressional inquiry” be opened on this matter. Again, use the code words “hardship case.” Believe it, a congressional inquiry goes immediately to the top of the heap for action.
