On the phone with the IRS – Complete run down

[HunterinDayton]

I’ll be as detailed as possible to hopefully help someone in a similar situation. Often times, asking the right questions helps, and after reading many of the items on this forum, I put together some Q&A’s for the rep I spoke with. Mr. Moorehouse was incredible giving me his time, so let’s jump into this…

I used TT to file at the end of Jan. Married Filing Jointly with 2 Dependents (1 EITC).

On 2/10, I received a text message saying my return was rejected. After further review, it was determined the import feature of my 2019 TT into my 2020 TT had transposed the SSN of my two children. Fixed and re-submitted. Odd how that got messed up from a direct import from the same tax program… moving on…

State and Federal Returns accepted 2/12.

2/19 – Progress bar @ Processing (Not Approved) and TT152

2/20 – Progress bar gone, message Still being processed. A refund date will be given when available. TT152 still exists.

**During this entire time, TT still shows refund date of 3/4 and never once changes**

3/4 – No refund. No change in status.

3/4 – 3/11 – No refund. No change in status, except for when we use my wife’s SSN. Still same message of being processed and refund date coming, but no TT152.

During this time, I try and get my transcripts, however, since I have no credit, and have a BK on record, none of the 8 digit loan numbers are valid/showing up during validation. So for anyone who has filed a BK, any credit included may not show for the IRS’ validation system, thereby not allowing you to get your transcripts.

3/12 – Today. No Refund. No change to message. I call (800) 829-0582 Ext. 652 @ 10:04am EST and by 10:05am, am being routed to a hold queue.

10:20am: Mr. Moorhouse gets on the line and gives me his ID code. I inquire as to the status of my return, wondering what went wrong. I also mention the only correspondence I received from the IRS saying I DID receive my 2nd stimulus amount (and it listed the amount). Moorehouse said this was an information letter, and had no impact on the return being delayed.

Moorehouse confirmed I correctly did the notorious Line 30, per my filing, since I did in fact receive the 2nd stimulus.
Moorehouse places me on a 10 minute hold to investigate the return.

10:33am: Moorehouse returns to the line and explains to me this return was in the batch of “Error Correction” for filings dated 2/12 – 2/14, and although there were other dates that are also flagged for “Error Correction” he did not have those readily available, since his unit was assigned these batches.

Moorehouse said the Error Correction status automatically triggers a 10 week window of time to allow for communication between the taxpayer and the IRS, so whatever errors may exist, would be resolved in a timely manner and not held out there for months at a time, or worse, end up in a black hole.

Morehouse states the returns affected by the Error Correction may not actually have anything wrong with them. In fact, if you filed and your return was accepted on 2/12 (as mine was), it is entirely possible the batch itself was flagged, and it would be like a dolphin getting caught in a tuna net. This means that although your return is perfect, that same window to allow for Error Correction, is also the window the IRS has to release the funds to your deposit method by the specified date.

The date for this batch on 2/12 is 4/23.

With that said, however, Moorehouse said he does not see any indication of any errors on this particular return, but that does not mean a letter will not be generated between now and 4/23. It DOES mean, however, unless otherwise noted, the funds will be released on that date, at the latest. Meaning the funds could be released at anytime between now and then if my return comes up for review and it was found to be caught in error.

What is really going on over there, Mr Moorehouse? Truthfully please…

He said they just got back into the office in August. Meaning, they only started the backlog of 2019 returns 6-7 months ago, then had to deal with the stimulus and now the 2020 tax season.

The overall issue he says? The fact people are just NOW getting notices for issues about their 2019 tax return, and confusing it with their 2020 return. This is creating an administrative nightmare. Also, the transcript verification system not working 100% of the time either, and of course, a coding system on the transcripts that most people do not understand how to interpret.

So what about the third stimulus? If my tax return is delayed until 4/23 (at the latest), what does that mean for the stimulus?
Good question, he says. He responded that as of now, he has heard of no delays or anything that would impact those payments, as this is a completely separate team and system that processes those transactions. With that said, however, it is entirely possible you will get your stimulus check before your tax return, as DD are going out today, with many arriving in accounts as early as Saturday.

So where does it go? In 2019, I had setup DD and for this year, I got a TurboCard. So how does that work? He said it depends on your return and the status it is in. If your return has been processed and ACCEPTED, before today’s date, it will go to the financial record on file with the accepted return.

However, if your return has not been ACCEPTED, they will be looking at the previous year’s return (2019), and go off the financial information there. Check both places though – he said. Since his department does not handle the Stimulus payments, he was not as familiar – only saying he was not aware of a delay as a result of the issues going on with tax refunds.

In the end, this is a perfect storm. People make mistakes all the time on their returns and they are caught and corrected pretty quickly, however, since the IRS only just back into the office in August of last year, and only just began processing 2019 refunds and now is faced with the 2020 ones, combine that with many tax preparers not clarifying verbiage correctly on Line 30 (or the preparer just screwing it up completely), you have a 75% workforce with a 300% work load.

So, for anyone that has that message and it is stuck, calculate 10 weeks from your ACCEPTED date, and that is your date of final resolution – to either receive your refund or receive correspondence from the IRS on an issue with your refund. Check your refund amount, however, on the WMR page. If the refund amount never changes from that message, chances are, you got caught in the tuna net and will have it resolved by that time (again, it can be any time, that is just the cutoff).

If you notice the amount has changed, THAT means to expect correspondence from the IRS and your refund will still be sent (at whatever dollar amount it is).

Last, but not least, when they touch your refund you will see one of three things happen:

1. Refund date will appear with your full amount within the 10 weeks of it being accepted.

2. Refund date will appear with an adjusted amount within the 10 weeks of it being accepted, and you will receive a letter as to why.

3. A message will appear about an issue with your refund being processed and you will receive a letter from the IRS / Or contact the IRS.

Hope this all helps!

[Jon]

Thanks for doing that! I’ve read books that weren’t that well wrotten
Thanks for all the effort you put in to that!

[Teddah]

I appreciate you. Thank you!

[Monica]

Very detailed and informative, thanks for sharing this. I think it helps alot of people better understand what is going on with their taxes.

[Nicole]

I called last night, and got the same answer, the guy checked my return and said there was nothing wrong with it at all. That it get stuck in a glitch and could take up to 10 weeks.
I was accepted 2/13 so 2/24 he said.

He also told me the best times to call to reach someone.

[GIveMeMyMunah]

You got a lot of great info! Thanks for sharing with us.

[Author]

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