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Help me escape IRS refund purgatory! (1 Viewer)

P

pecorino

Footballguy
Filed 12 weeks ago, old-school paper and pencil tax return. I don't usually get much of a refund but special circumstances this year changed that. Waiting on over 9K. I checked their "Where's my refund?" on their web site but it gives me nothing. Phone calls run me around automated rings producing no information. No luck at all. What's my recourse? Driving to DC? This is ridiculous and yet completely expected coming from our government. Anyone with suggestions? TIA

 
OK, pen. But you've got to do pencil first with all the erasures. I'm getting audited right? Man this stinks.

 
Getting 9k, but couldn't be bothered to drop a hundred and file electronically? Good luck in your endeavors.

 
pecorino said:
I'm getting audited right? Man this stinks.
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The fact that the IRS doesn't have your refund on the "where's my refund?" app doesn't mean you're being audited.  Not even close.

If you are really curious, call them.  Be prepared to sit on hold forever, because the IRS' budget is slashed to hell and it's difficult to get through.  Good luck.

 
IRS is way under-staffed right now. I've spent two hours on hold, and that's through the supposedly less wait time number for tax professionals.

 
Not to alarm you, but if your refund is not in the where is my refund thingy, it could be possible someone filed a fraudulent return under your name already.

You need to suck it up and wait on hold for hours tomorrow and get to the bottom of this ASAP, good luck dude.

 
Waiting on mine as well. But had filed claiming innocent spouse relief (married in December, wife with old unpaid student loan), so honestly not sure if I'll even get the refund. Was supposed to take 8 weeks, now going on 18. I'd think if they denied it I would at least get a letter...SOMETHING.

 
pecorino said:
Filed 12 weeks ago, old-school paper and pencil tax return. I don't usually get much of a refund but special circumstances this year changed that. Waiting on over 9K. I checked their "Where's my refund?" on their web site but it gives me nothing. Phone calls run me around automated rings producing no information. No luck at all. What's my recourse? Driving to DC? This is ridiculous and yet completely expected coming from our government. Anyone with suggestions? TIA
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Send a demand letter with interest and penalties 

 
Cjw_55106 said:
Getting 9k, but couldn't be bothered to drop a hundred and file electronically? Good luck in your endeavors.
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A hundred?  This year, we paid to e-file for the first time because of an inheritance and other complications.  It cost $15.  And there were a whole bunch of added files on the thing.  

We got our refund a couple of weeks later.  (it helps to file well before the deadline.)

TaxAct Online rules.

 
Yeah, filing by pen/pencil will add weeks or even months to when you'll get your refund. The IRS much prefers efiling. 

As Steve suggested, call them and be prepared to wait awhile.

 
The IRS is so overworked and understaffed that they allowed my SS# to be used 2 years in a for for a fraudulent return.  This after setting up a pass code pin security number so that the theft wouldn't happen after this first year.  I think that the IRS is filled with people who cannot gain employment from the their local convenient stores.  These people are the bottom of the barrel and the first to be used when all government jobs should be abolished.  Good luck with your tax return, or whoever the thief is that is enjoying your tax return.  

 
SHIZNITTTT said:
The IRS is so overworked and understaffed that they allowed my SS# to be used 2 years in a for for a fraudulent return.  This after setting up a pass code pin security number so that the theft wouldn't happen after this first year.  I think that the IRS is filled with people who cannot gain employment from the their local convenient stores.  These people are the bottom of the barrel and the first to be used when all government jobs should be abolished.  Good luck with your tax return, or whoever the thief is that is enjoying your tax return.  
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They should have some levers in place to help avoid fraud too. In the most elementary of examples, I've filed electronically and for direct deposit for as long as I can remember. The money has deposited into the same checking account for probably around a decade. If a return was filed under my name and didn't go to the same bank account it has gone too for almost 10 years, they should at least inquire as to why. 

 
pecorino said:
Filed 12 weeks ago, old-school paper and pencil tax return. I don't usually get much of a refund but special circumstances this year changed that. Waiting on over 9K. I checked their "Where's my refund?" on their web site but it gives me nothing. Phone calls run me around automated rings producing no information. No luck at all. What's my recourse? Driving to DC? This is ridiculous and yet completely expected coming from our government. Anyone with suggestions? TIA




 
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If it makes you feel any better, i had to write a check for roughly the same amount this year that has not been cashed yet.  I keep calling and the time line changes by 2-3 weeks each time.  

 
sbonomo said:
If it makes you feel any better, i had to write a check for roughly the same amount this year that has not been cashed yet.  I keep calling and the time line changes by 2-3 weeks each time.  
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If you just would have made the check out to pecorino, you'd both be happy right now.

Well, maybe one of you.

 
Refunds are free loans to the government and should be avoided at all costs. 

Have you checked under the sofa cushions?

 
Thanks for the replies. I have always filed by hand. So long as the IRS allows me to avoid filing online, I'll continue doing it by hand. I'm not paying a dime for e-anything, IRS-wise. Also, this year was a singular event regarding getting a refund. I'm not in the business of handing the IRS free money for 12 months. Anyway, I'm actually not too worried about being audited. At least I'd know they care. My big concern is fraud and everyday I get more worried about that. I'll get on the phone now and hope to get through before they close for the day.

 
pecorino said:
Thanks for the replies. I have always filed by hand. So long as the IRS allows me to avoid filing online, I'll continue doing it by hand. I'm not paying a dime for e-anything, IRS-wise. Also, this year was a singular event regarding getting a refund. I'm not in the business of handing the IRS free money for 12 months. Anyway, I'm actually not too worried about being audited. At least I'd know they care. My big concern is fraud and everyday I get more worried about that. I'll get on the phone now and hope to get through before they close for the day.
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If you won't do the smart thing, stop complaining.  It costs nothing to e-file unless you have a truly complicated return.  It costs all of $15, if the return is more complicated.  Deal.

 
pecorino said:
Thanks for the replies. I have always filed by hand. So long as the IRS allows me to avoid filing online, I'll continue doing it by hand. I'm not paying a dime for e-anything, IRS-wise. Also, this year was a singular event regarding getting a refund. I'm not in the business of handing the IRS free money for 12 months. Anyway, I'm actually not too worried about being audited. At least I'd know they care. My big concern is fraud and everyday I get more worried about that. I'll get on the phone now and hope to get through before they close for the day.
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TurboTax had free efile for state and federal this year.  I recommend it. You can take a picture of your W2s and it fills everything in on your tax forms.

 
It's my right to file by hand and I'm perfectly happy waiting 6-8 weeks for the refund instead of a few days. But if the IRS can't give me a scrap of information about my return after 12 weeks and their online system is worthless and they are nightmare to reach by phone, then I also have a valid complaint about their service. How can I "deal" when the IRS makes it impossible to know if I have been a victim of fraud or if they just lost my return? It's radio silence on their part.

 
fantasycurse42 said:
They should have some levers in place to help avoid fraud too. In the most elementary of examples, I've filed electronically and for direct deposit for as long as I can remember. The money has deposited into the same checking account for probably around a decade. If a return was filed under my name and didn't go to the same bank account it has gone too for almost 10 years, they should at least inquire as to why. 
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Yeah I mean only a couple hundred million people in this country, should be easy to catch

 
lumpy19 said:
Yeah I mean only a couple hundred million people in this country, should be easy to catch
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Do you use a typewriter at work?

Do you understand what an algorithm is? Software can be designed to curb fraud that picks up on changes in someone's refund year over year. If it designed properly, it can flag stuff for review. Not very complex or earth-shattering stuff here.

My state & city tax is filed in NY and my refund is being sent to the Bank of Wyoming, flag - simple stuff... Software can be implemented to automate the process, when a user is flagged, it is a slight headache for them, but certainly beats having billions stolen in fraudulent returns and the headaches that occur to those that have had their refunds stolen.

 
pecorino said:
It's my right to file by hand and I'm perfectly happy waiting 6-8 weeks for the refund instead of a few days. But if the IRS can't give me a scrap of information about my return after 12 weeks and their online system is worthless and they are nightmare to reach by phone, then I also have a valid complaint about their service. How can I "deal" when the IRS makes it impossible to know if I have been a victim of fraud or if they just lost my return? It's radio silence on their part.
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Ha-ha. IRS customer service.

 
Quez said:
The TIA certainly isn't going to help move your refund along any faster.
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I'll wait months for my refund, I don't care. The point is that I have no information about the status of my return and I can't get any info from the IRS. One post above did link to a helpful site that has suggestions for how to actually reach a human at the IRS and my call was promising but I still couldn't get through. That's the kind of FBG help I was looking for. I'll try again on Monday.

 
fantasycurse42 said:
Do you use a typewriter at work?

Do you understand what an algorithm is? Software can be designed to curb fraud that picks up on changes in someone's refund year over year. If it designed properly, it can flag stuff for review. Not very complex or earth-shattering stuff here.

My state & city tax is filed in NY and my refund is being sent to the Bank of Wyoming, flag - simple stuff... Software can be implemented to automate the process, when a user is flagged, it is a slight headache for them, but certainly beats having billions stolen in fraudulent returns and the headaches that occur to those that have had their refunds stolen.
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Oh I use a typewriter, no idea this stuff existed, thanks

 
Roughly 250000000 people file taxes....let's say 5% switch banks each year.....12500000 returns would get flagged by your algorithm.  Even if 1% switched banks it's still 2.5million returns getting flagged.

It's difficult to write code for 250000000 people, don't make it sound so simple.

 
Even if they were flagged, what would the irs even do?   Send out an email to a fake email address?  Send out a letter to a fake physical address?   

 
Tax refund fraud is rampant. Over $20 Billion estimated this year. That's a lot of victims and a lot of stolen money.

The fact remains, investing to stop the problem is a lot better than shaking your head and saying "well it is what it is"...

Investing in software and people would be a lot cheaper than this growing problem. I'm done arguing this, it isn't even debatable.

BTW NutterButter, if the IRS wants to get in touch with you, they get in touch with you. 

 
NutterButter said:
Even if they were flagged, what would the irs even do?   Send out an email to a fake email address?  Send out a letter to a fake physical address?   
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I was a victim of a fraudulant tax return this year. The IRS caught it and stopped processing the fradulant return and notified me via snail mail. I contacted (per their instructions) their identity protection unit and fraud unit and they directed me to file a paper return with an eta of 9-12 weeks.  I spent 3 total hours o  the phone with the IRS to resolve.  I actually get a refund this year due to an education credit (not the same as a free loan to the government) and filed at the deadline.  Still haven't received my return but understand they are swamped as several posters previously stated.  After talkong to the second lady, I thanked them for catching the fraud (I get it this shiuld be part of their job) and the lady seemed shocked that I actually was appreciative as I am sure she was used to get lambasted by taxpayers.

 
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