A Reddit user named AnxiousSomebody22 recently wrote a post titled ‘Where’s my refund, damnit???!’ in which they narrated how they’re disgusted with the waiting period to get their tax refund. This user filed their return on January 29, and the only correspondence received thereafter is a single acknowledgment letter saying that the tax refund is under processing. It is now eight months, and they are still waiting and finding it hard to get hold of any IRS agent.
This has struck a chord with a good number of users who have experienced similar circumstances, especially with regards to refund delays in the current taxation climate. The IRS has found itself under a lot of pressure owing to the famine of work staff, the overwhelming workload incurred by return filings, and the general increase in the workload. For those taxpayers who filed their returns electronically, it is expected that the IRS will take a period of about three weeks to return the taxing process. But several factors may cause long latencies. Such causes might in compasses include wrong bank details, calculation mistakes, or even the inclusion of additional steps that entail assessing a return above the ordinary level in order to confirm the taxpayer’s identity.
In the comments section, users sympathetic to the original poster shared their stories of delays. One user mentioned they received a notice informing them that their refund was still in the verification department, which is bad since it suggests the IRS has found something wrong with the tax return. Others said that there was an alternative called the IRS “Where’s My Refund” that was online and updated the status of tax returns. However, many people complained about this feature, claiming it mostly gave a very general answer to the black-and-white question with no explanation about why there was an answer delay.
IRS Tax Topic 152
Among the effectiveness complaints that were mentioned frequently by the users, the authors noted the manner in which the IRS applies the term “Tax Topic 152,” which describes any return that is still under processing. Returns can be under this status for a variety of reasons, one of which is the inclusion of credit claims such as the EITC or the Child Tax credits which should be verified. Another user recounted that they received a “CP05 notice,” which is issued by the IRS to request additional information for clarification of an issue, only for the resolution to take several months.
Additionally, most individuals do not know that their returns carry the risk of having identity theft flags, which makes the situation even worse. In such a case, however, it becomes an even more complicated issue as the IRS will seek to ensure that the taxpayer’s identity is indeed that of the person who has filed the taxpayer return. Other users encouraged their fellow users to remain patient and advised them to keep on certain banks asking how the bank accounts were doing since all banks were now closed, and there may be an issuance of the funds after the IRS had approved the refunds.
Clearly, this frustration can be observed in very many taxpayers who have been in similar situations where they have been forced to wait for refunds. This post on social media shows the burden of one taxpayer but also the burden many people have to deal with the IRs annoyingly. If you are lagging behind, then it is advisable to go on the waiting mode in regard to the online resources of the IRS and equally do not cease from calling them for further information.
For the rest of the people who are also in the same position as the others, survival becomes a virtue. There is a concerted effort to address the workload standing in the way of the Internal Revenue Service, but it requires time. In case you are still on the line for your refund, feel free to post about it or indulge in a ‘wait experience’ elsewhere—along the lines of checking forums such as Reddit, which, in the course of its grouchy forgiveness, may help ease a community struggle.
