IRS still experiencing delays in sending tax refunds

SunSentinel.com by Donna Gehrke-White
View Original Article HERE

Tax preparers said Thursday that the Internal Revenue Service is continuing to have delays in sending federal tax refunds this year, with hundreds of South Floridians complaining they still haven't gotten their check.

"Our phone is ringing off the hook with people saying they should have their refund by now," said Mark Daly, franchise owner of several Jackson-Hewitt Tax Service outlets in South Florida.

"There's no rhyme or reason why some returns are being quickly processed and others not," Daly added. "We've had hundreds and hundreds of complaints."


"The IRS is experiencing delays this year in sending refunds," said H&R spokesman Gene King in a statement sent Thursday to the Sun Sentinel. "Based on current IRS guidance, most refunds are now issued from the IRS in 10 to 21 days."


Last month, the IRS said there would be a week delay for the earliest filers because of a computer snafu in getting up a system to find identity theft before refund checks were actually issued.

The federal agency said those people filing after Jan. 26 would not have delays.

But the agency continued to have a slower response partly because they had a backlog from the earliest cases being delayed, tax preparers said.

In a statement, the IRS said it successfully opened the filing season and "refunds have been issued to millions of taxpayers. When the IRS announced the opening of the 2012 filing season, it advised taxpayers who electronically file and select direct deposit that they could see their refunds in 10 to 21 days. Some taxpayers are getting refunds much faster, but at this time taxpayers should expect refunds to be issued as indicated in the original IRS guidelines."

The agency also said in its release that workers have resolved a recent online glitch: Some people who visited "Where's My Refund," on the IRS.gov website were told "we had no information regarding their return."

But the IRS statement said, "this was a temporary situation, and virtually all of these cases were resolved."

People can expect to get an expected refund date when they visit “Where's My Refund.”

"When a taxpayer receives an acknowledgment message that their e-filed tax return has been received, they can be assured that the IRS has received the tax return," according to the IRS.