Missing IRS refund

There are many people in the same situation. Other than the usual reasons (incomplete/inaccurate return, debt offset, tax fraud victim), the IRS is taking a closer look at many returns that claimed refundable credits - EITC, ACTC, AOTC, APTC. COVID shutdowns made things worse.

Your client can try calling the IRS help line and if you have sufficient representation rights, you can try Practitioner Priority Service.

Ira Smilovitz, EA Leonia, NJ

I filed my return in June with a large payment, due to income from a one-time event. A few weeks ago I got a letter from the IRS saying we doubt this return is really from you, call us. When I did and provided all of the info, the agent and I were scratching our heads why the return had been flagged, since the usual reason is refund fraud.

As of today the IRS web site shows the payments but the return still hasn't been processed. So it's not just you.

How do you check online to see that the payments were made but the return not processed? I also filed last June (via paper) with a large payment. The check was received and deposited by the IRS fairly quickly, but how do I determine if they actually processed it? I am only aware of the site where you can check the status of a refund.

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IRS e-services. From the IRS home page, click the View Your Account button.

Ira Smilovitz, EA Leonia, NJ

Thanks for posting. I e-filed in March, and got my refund relatively promptly, but "Your 2019 Tax Return Is Not Processed". I was getting worried, so it's good to know I'm in the same situation as others. I guess even the computers are slower because of COVID. :-) They really need to update this statement: "If you've already filed, processing usually takes 21 days (electronic returns) or six weeks (paper returns)."

I'm not quite clear on what "processed" means -- when I made an estimated tax payment last week the IRS site asked me for certain data from my 2019 return, so they must have done _something_ with it.

Thanks. I checked my record and it shows the payment was received but the actual return has not been processed. Whether this means it actually hasn't been processed or they just haven't updated the website is unclear.