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We recommended that IRS do so, and take steps to reduce interest payments where it can. IRS does not keep track of why it pays interest to taxpayers, nor does it report this information to the public or congress. In the past 7 years, IRS has paid nearly $14 billion in interest on refunds. Interest payments had been rising in the years prior. Not all of the increase in interest was due to the pandemic, however. During the pandemic, IRS postponed the filing season deadline in 20, which meant IRS paid interest on more refunds. There are many other reasons why IRS may pay interest on a refund-such as a court ruling or a change in law allowing you to claim benefits going back several years. IRS may owe you interest on your refund if it takes too long to pay you. Refund delays could mean you get paid interest This would improve service and wait times for taxpayers and reduce telephone calls and correspondence to IRS.
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However, in our report, we recommended that IRS work with the Department of the Treasury to modernize “Where’s My Refund” so that the website fully addresses taxpayer needs. IRS officials also told us they don’t have the resources and funding to modernize the tool. This tool is nearly 20 years old and the last time the IRS made changes to it that the taxpayers could see was 2013. IRS officials told us that only simple changes such as this were possible, and modernizing “Where’s My Refund” would be challenging because of its age. However, these messages do not provide detailed information to taxpayers, who may continue to call or write IRS about their specific situation. These include adding general, static messages on the “Where’s My Refund” status page so that taxpayers are aware of possible circumstances where their refund may be delayed, similar to the information IRS currently provides on processing delays on its website. IRS officials told us they planned to make some simple changes to the tool before the 2022 filing season started.
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What can IRS do to fix it? In our new report, we found that while IRS knows there are problems with “Where’s My Refund” they do not have plans to modernize it. In 2018, 55% of taxpayers who used the tool and responded to the survey said the tool was helpful. IRS conducts user satisfaction surveys on “Where’s My Refund” to gain information on how helpful the application is.
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During the 2021 filing season, millions of taxpayers’ returns were delayed for a manual review because of such errors.
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But it doesn’t always provide an update if a return’s processing is delayed or even suspended due to an error or other reason. “Where’s My Refund” provides users with three statuses: (1) tax return received, (2) refund approved, or (3) refund sent. From January to mid-May 2021, it received 1.4 billion visits.īut despite the volume of visits, many who used the site said it was not helpful. As a result, “Where’s My Refund” saw a 71% increase in visits in 2021 when compared to 2019 (before the pandemic). “ Where’s My Refund” is a publicly available online tool run by the IRS where taxpayers can get updates on their refund status.ĭuring the last two tax filing seasons (20) many taxpayers have seen delays in getting their filings processed.
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