Tax Refund Help

No Hold Bank (NHB) or Traditional Financial Institution (TFI)

No Hold Bank (NHB) Some banks may offer the option for early direct deposits, allowing customers to receive their paychecks or government benefits a day or two before they anticipate a deposit. We call these No Hold Banks (NHB). However, it’s important to note that early direct deposit policies can vary by bank and may … Read more

Improved Where’s My Refund Messages

“Where’s My Refund?” is an online tool provided by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). It lets taxpayers check the status of their federal tax refund. This IRS provides this tool in its efforts to offer taxpayers real-time information about the processing of their tax refunds. Where’s My Refund messages have often been vague. Changes are … Read more

IRS Test Batch

The IRS typically begins officially accepting and processing tax returns in late January, usually around the third week. The exact opening date varies from year to year. The date they will begin accepting tax returns is announced in IRS news releases on their website. However, the IRS accepts some tax returns earlier than the announced … Read more

What is a Tax Advocate for the IRS and what do they do?

A Tax Advocate is “your voice at the IRS” A Tax Advocate might help your stalled tax refund. The bureaucracy surrounding the tax code and Internal Revenue Service can turn into a nightmare to navigate. The IRS has done a fairly decent job of making many of the basic processes that are important to the taxpayer … Read more

IRS Resequenced Delay for Tax Refund

Your tax refund might be delayed for being resequenced. The Where’s My Refund (WMR) tool might tell you that “Your tax return is still being processed. A refund date will be provided when available.” Resequenced circumstances happen behind the scenes while your tax return is being processed and can sometimes cause a delay of your … Read more

Resequenced or Unpostable Tax Return

Tax refunds can be delayed for being resequenced or unpostable. Where’s My Refund (WMR) tool on irs.gov might tell you that “Your tax return is still being processed. A refund date will be provided when available.” Resequenced or unpostable circumstances happen behind the scenes while your tax return is being processed. Resequenced Transactions that post … Read more

IRS Unpostable Process

Unpostable Overview Below are specific procedures how the IRS processes unpostable tax return transactions. It is directly from the IRS manual and is only for reference because it is complex. The easiest way to understand unpostables is to read more about How to Resolve Unpostable Tax Return, Resolution Time, Responding to Taxpayer Inquiries to see … Read more

IRS Unpostable Delay for Tax Refund

Unpostable Overview If your tax refund is delayed there may be a problem with a transaction that is unpostable in the IRS Master File system while your tax return is still being processed. Each transaction on your account must pass a series of validity checks prior to posting to the system. Your tax return could … Read more

Rejected Tax Return Common Reasons and How to Fix

rejected tax return

Do you have a rejected tax return? First, don’t worry. If you e-filed your tax return and the IRS rejected it, you have a second chance to correct the mistakes and resubmit. In some cases, you may be able to retransmit the return electronically.  Other rejected returns may require you to file by paper and … Read more

IRS Identity Theft Hotline

Are You the Victim of Tax Identity Theft? If you are the victim of IRS identity theft, it may be several months before you actually receive your refund because the IRS needs to investigate and validate your claim. That makes it very important to report tax identity theft immediately if you think you are a … Read more

Contact Local IRS Office – Talk to a Person

contact local irs office

Get help and contact local IRS office! Still waiting for your tax refund?  Don’t spend hours on hold, visit or contact local IRS office.  Talk to a human. Find phone numbers and locations here. Thousands of refunders have spent hours on hold with the IRS only to get very few answers.  Your local IRS office is there to … Read more

Tax Refund Offset – Tax Topic 203

offsetDo you have a tax refund offset or Tax Topic 203 appearing when you check the WMR?

Topic 203 – Refund Offsets for Unpaid Child Support, Certain Federal and State Debts, and Unemployment Compensation Debts

Recently the topic of a tax refund offset came up in our forum.  There seems to be a lot of questions about what the IRS can take from a tax refund, and how it all works.  So, after doing a little research for some answers, here’s what we’ve come up with so far. First, the department that actually handles the offsets is Financial Management Services (FMS).

FMS is responsible for collecting delinquent debts and forwarding them to the agency to which they are owed. In most cases, FMS will send a letter prior to the offset to notify you that your refund is in danger of being offset. The letter includes both the name and Social Security number of the taxpayer for which the refund is being offset, as well as the organization to which the offset is being forwarded and the amount of the offset. If you do not receive the letter, however, call FMS to inquire as to the status of your income tax.

The phone number you should use to find out if you have an offset is: 800-304-3107.  I called this number myself just to see how it works.  Basically it will ask you for your social security number and run a search to see if there are any debts or offsets against you.  The message also states that the hotline is updated daily. If you’d like more information on the FMS, this is the link that was used for the above information: How to Check Your Income Tax Offset Refund Amount.

So, now that we have a better understand of who collects any offsets, you may be wondering what exactly could be taken from your tax refund.  The following list of was found here:

What Debts Can Be Taken From Your Federal Taxes?

Federal Debts The IRS pays itself first, so federal tax debts take precedence over other types of debts when it comes to offsetting your tax refund. If you failed to pay taxes due in previous years or you owe money to the IRS for any reason, the agency will partially or fully offset your refund to collect these funds.

Non-tax Federal Debts If you are up-to-date on your federal taxes, but you owe money to any other federal agency, the IRS can take money from your tax refund to satisfy these debts. Federal agency non-tax debts include past due or defaulted student loan payments, payments on HUD loans and any fines, penalties or fees due to any federal department. If you’ve accepted overpayments or fraudulent payments on Social Security or disability benefits or other federal insurance programs, these debts may also cause your refund amount to be reduced.

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8 weeks after 4883C, tax return is still unpostable.

This is a scenario that happened to a taxpayer after they verified their identity and then their return was unpostable. I filled my tax return 98 days ago. TurboTax Transmitted 96 days ago. IRS finally accepted my tax return after I received a 4883C letter for identify verification 81 days ago. The Where’s My Refund … Read more

Will You Need a Taxpayer Advocate (TA) for IRS help?

Prayer method. Hope. Sometimes it’s what carries us through tax season. I hope that people will not need IRS help to navigate a tax fiasco that some taxpayers experience. If you need IRS help, there is an agency within the IRS that is designed to help and protect you. All taxpayers have rights. You can … Read more

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