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So you have had updates on the WMR site on the weekends? How often is the site updated I wonder?
Just got a ddd. Been following this forum since the beginning just didn’t have anything to say till now. Filed on 2/7 accepted on 2/14. This morning woke up to a ddd on 5/16. On my 11 week I called and had a referral put in and it will be two weeks since referral on the day I get dd
I had a change on WMR this morning just like @jfsphotos. The italics telling me a refund date will be provided when available is gone. It still says return is being processed and the amount is still there. Is this a good sign? It is the first change since early March.
Just wanted to give an update on my status. Filed first week of March and then received the offset notice on WMR. Mailed IS form on 03/11. Not counting the week that the form was mailed, this is just the end of my 8th week waiting. Today WMR changed from the offset notice to simply say “We have received your tax return and it is being processed.” All o the offset information is gone, yay! I hope that means that WMR will actually update again with a DDD. I also did receive the offset notice from the Treasury Dept in the mail shortly after filing.
A little update, today the italics in wmr telling me about a dd date where gone. Is that good or bad?
Filed and Accepted 2/10 WMR updated this morning supposed to be deposited may 15th. It says I’m receiving full amount. The debt is from my wife’s student loans and she had zero income. I seen some others were in similar situations and I thought I’d share.
Update !!! Wheres my refund has my Orange Bars back and says My refund will be deposited On May 15th. And I could not be happier !!!
Still no update here but the congressman’s rep said the IRS told her we would have our refund by May 17th. I would think that WMR would have given us a DDD by now though so I am kind of worried.
Called offset number today 1-800-304-3107 they got the offset date and gave me the amount. I know my chedda is on the way yipppeeeeee!
UPDATE !!!!
I called the IRS And asked about the New York Times Article Today by Jonathan
Weisman Titled: ” I.R.S. Apologizes to Conservative Groups Over Application Audits”
The article States,
WASHINGTON – The Internal Revenue Service is apologizing to Tea Party groups and other conservative organizations for what it now says were overzealous audits of their applications for tax-exempt status.
Lois Lerner, the director of the I.R.S. division that oversees tax-exempt groups, acknowledged on Friday that the agency had singled out nonprofit applicants with the terms “Tea Party” or “patriots” in their titles.
“We made some mistakes; some people didn’t use good judgment,” she told reporters on a conference call. “For that we’re apologetic”
How would the IRS know what our political affiliations are ?
In IRS internal Revenue service manuals state that the 4th amendment doe not apply to email and admits to reading our emails . (if you dont believe me please simply google it)I wrote a script of the exact statement and question that I asked and here it is…
feel free to use it, if it helps you.“I filed my tax return approximately 13 weeks ago and I was reading in the New York Times today that the IRS had apologized to conservative groups over application audits based on the political beliefs of those organizations.
My question is, Is My individual return being delayed because it is subject to additional review based on MY political beliefs?”The Rep I spoke with then took my information put me on hold, when she cane back her reply was.
” Thank you for holding I do appreciate your patients, I don’t show that your return is being reviewed I actually show that your return is going to be deposited on the 15th of this month ” ….I then thanked her and politely ended the phone call.I had called the day before and was treated like a bothersome piece of garbage..
I will update on the 15th when she said my deposit was due!
Hope this helps someone NO MATTER WHAT YOUR POLITICAL BELIEFS ARE !
Good luck too all !hi!
i found this forum couple of days ago and just got around to register. my wife is behind on her school loans and had no other choice than to file IS form since we opened a small business and have our second little girl on the way. this is our first year filing the form with out return. it got accepted 2/25 and our 11 weeks should be this monday so here’s me crossing my fingers.
thank you all for sharing all this info that has allowed me to set realistic goals as to when we might see the money.
i am too tired of the IRS
filed 2/7 delayed until 2/14 ( ed credits) accepted 2/14 (claimly). sent to is dept 2/21. called every other week and kept being told had to wait 11 weeks from 2/21. come to find out it really 11 weeks from the date of the original filing date not when sent to is dept. did that whole referral thing and now i have allow another 30 days. really. i want to work for the irs because obviously they barely work, dont know thier own rules and regulations and still get paid. sign me up.Just curious about something. I just heard a story on my local news where the IRS admits to requiring extra review of certain applications for tax exempt status based on the political nature of the organisation. For example, Tea Party advocates and conservative republican s were targeted for attack based on those political views. The IRS ADMITS TO DOING THIS WHILE STATING THAT IS WAS UNINTENTIONAL . Several major news organisations have also reported how the IRS regularly reads our email without concern fro the 4th amendment and believes that its OK to violate the constitution.
I know this isn’t a political forum but I would like to pursue this further to determine if some of these ridiculous delays are possibly not legitimate delays but instead a deliberate attack against those who the IRS consider to be political dissidents..
I would like to know if anyone else has an opinion about this. I would be interested and I believe that some of us might very well be part of the coming class action suit. This is in the national news today if you look..
Give your thoughts. Are these delays ANOTHER political attack against dissidents.
I intend to call the IRS today and ASK them if I am being targeted for political reasons.
I will let you know what I find out.Today is 13 weeks since our return was accepted. Our TA is supposed to call us mid-week since the deadline he gave the IS employee assigned to our case was 5/8. Crossing our fingers (and toes!) that he has some good news, since WMR still hasn’t been updated.
Still nothing new to report here either.
2/2 filed electronically
2/7 accepted by IRS
4/29 referral
5/3 closed and full refund approved
I called today to get a date to expect our refund, and the rep confirmed that yes, it was closed and approved on the 3rd, but nothing has been done since. She told me to call back next Friday to see if they could give me an expected date then….. seriously?!?I’m wondering how often I should call and bug them.
They told me the IS agent working on my case has 45 days to respond to the inquiry
I don’t want to accept that as a response.I’ve waited my 11 weeks….why should I wait another 6?
*Le Sigh*
Just an update. Since talking to our congressman’s rep on Wednesday, there still hasn’t been any change on WMR, and I have been checking the bank and few times a day and no DD either. But the rep said we should have our money by May 17th. I have been told so many different stories I am afraid to get my hopes up. I have been checking the mail too because the rep told us that the IRS person she spoke to didn’t see where we had given the information for direct deposit of our refund to our bank. Which I told her wasn’t so, we did give the lady that prepared our taxes our bank information for direct deposit. I don’t know why the IRS lady couldn’t see that. But I have read on here that others that have elected direct deposit wound up getting a check in mail instead. Praying that this nightmare ends soon for all of us!
Been watching this forum for weeks,
Filed 2/18/2013 called once or twice always got the standard issue bologny 11 weeks response from the lazy IRS employees, waited the 11 weeks and called yesterday and was fortunate enough to get a guy who only spoke pidgeon english. I guess the IRS is now outsourcing its phone reps from india like every other unproductive company in the world. The rep I talked to told me that is was finished, then told me that it was still processing then told me anyday then I should wait…4 MORE WEEKS ! then he hung up. I called a tax advocate who said that if I got an advocate it might take even longer !!!
Now im mad I have since written 2 United States Senators and One Congressman, The congressman had me fill out the consent form from his website and mail it for consent to inquire on my behalf. Congressman Doug Lamborn’s office response to me sending the consent form was to send me an exact copy of the SAME form and fill out the same information and send it to the same addresse again. Of the TWO senators I have written only one has responded. Michael Bennet’s office responded immediately and assigned a constituent advocate who sent me another consent form..I have filled it out and will keep you posted I am in my 12th week. I hope a Senator can help me as any employee of the IRS is basically a waste of good human skin.. I will update soonSo so so angry! I waited on the phone for 42 minutes to be connected to someone. Heard him talking to someone in the background about his social life and then he hangs up on me! These people are such monsters!
Refund Offset number is down today 1-800-304-3107 can’t get through! Everyone on Earth and Jupiter is trying to call :-)
Thank You tiredofwaiting99… I got ahold of a person she said my account was closed monday and gave me my amount BUT said it still could take 3 to 4 weeks…. i am so hoping that is not the case… another month??? I am so sick!!!!
@Treestone I called 1-800-829-0582 Ext 462 or 362.
@lisa120484 Honestly, I think the reason we ( I didn’t get one either) didn’t get an offset letter is simply because there is so much inconsistency & the case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing most of the time.
What number are you guys calling that your getting the helpful reps. closing your cases. I called monday morning and they sent in my referral and i swear she said it would be resolved in 4 to 5 days but after reading all these 45day remarks i am questioning if i heard her right…. ugh…. i am so sick to my stomach over all of this…. so i plan on calling AGAIN today to hopefully get on of those reps….. can anyone lead me that way????
Well the hold time wasnt as long as expected. The lady I talked to did put my on hold to check our status… so I’m wondering if maybe she was just picking her butt like that other rep said, lol. She just said that our IS form was accepted on 2/25 and they have 77 days to work on it so they should be doing it very soon and hopefully be done with it by next week. So I suppose I will attempt to call back then. I don’t know, I’m just thinking maybe I will forget about this stupid tax refund and then maybe when I get something months from now I will feel some type of excitement?
Also, going back to what you guys were all talking about earlier about receiving and offset letter… we havent gotten anything and I think that is so weird! In the past we have gotten an offset letter when we didnt even know we would be getting an offset on a military star card my husband had. We didnt file an IS form and it wasnt a huge amount so it really didnt effect us. But why did we get a letter then and not now?
Just updating: Today is 11 weeks since filing. No updates on WMR or anything else. I am attempting to call the IRS right now… thinking it shouldnt be too bad at 7:30am, but my wait time is estimated to be 30 minutes. Yay.
@tiredofwaiting99: Yes lets pray that this doesn’t happen again next year. I am praying that everyone here gets their money very soon!
@brokeandfrustrated what great news! I am so happy for you. I am hoping to get our money around that time too! I hope we don’t have to go through this anymore. Lets pray next year will be better.
Actually the congressman’s rep called me a bit ago, and she told me everything was finished up yesterday, they made all the adjustments and everything and that we should receive our refund by May 17th. She could not tell me the amount of the refund but said she would have that information for me on Monday when she calls the IRS to follow-up and she will be calling me back Monday as well. And she said to start checking our bank account everyday. So this is good news IF it actually happens. We have been waiting so long and have been told so many lies I am almost afraid to count on anything, but hopefully since the congressman is involved we will have our money by next Friday. Fingers crossed and praying hard!!!!!!
@brokenandfrustrated why don’t you just call back and ask the rep if she can re-assign it to herself and work the return right there like like @frustratedsteph did: read what happened
thanks katmill2369, wonder why they did that? makes no sense… I actually talked to a lady today at IRS and she reassigned my case to herself and completed it right on the phone, I was really shocked since I have had such a run around with them lately. She said she processed it and within 7-14 days we should recieve our refund. so crossing my fingers, I hope it may come sooner even…
And this from frustratedsteph…katmill2369, I called the 800-829-4933, pressed 1 then 0000 directed me to a person then he directed me to Individual accounts, I talked to a Mrs.Jones, she counted the weeks I was 13 weeks passed she says here I will reassign this to myself and process this right now if you have 10 minutes, I said I have 30 whatever it takes lol. She processed it right there and wala! I have called several times last time I talked to someone they did a referrel but that was it, which could take 45 more days he said and he told me not to call back there wasnt anything they could do to speed it up. Well I didnt listen and actually found someone that wasnt lazy and took the time to finish it. Also instead of being on hold for 1 hour it was only like 20 minutes. Hope that helps!
Call this number see if you can get Mrs Jones . If not tell them Mrs Jones did it for someone, can they do the same for you.
@tiredofwaiting99: Thank you! :)
@brokeandfrustrated Happy Birthday.
anyone know how often they update the wmr site, I know they say once a day overnight but… not sure if that is true??
katmill2369, I called the 800-829-4933, pressed 1 then 0000 directed me to a person then he directed me to Individual accounts, I talked to a Mrs.Jones, she counted the weeks I was 13 weeks passed she says here I will reassign this to myself and process this right now if you have 10 minutes, I said I have 30 whatever it takes lol. She processed it right there and wala! I have called several times last time I talked to someone they did a referrel but that was it, which could take 45 more days he said and he told me not to call back there wasnt anything they could do to speed it up. Well I didnt listen and actually found someone that wasnt lazy and took the time to finish it. Also instead of being on hold for 1 hour it was only like 20 minutes. Hope that helps!
Forgot to mention that for a second this morning I did think there was a change on WMR, the part that says “a refund date will be provided when available” was not in italics, and I think I remember reading here that if it changed like that it could mean a DDD soon. But then when I checked again about a half hour later that part of the message was in italics again. Well it was nice to have a short period of hope anyway….
How are you guys getting them to finish it on the phone?!!!!! Everyone I talk to either gives me some bullshit date that isn’t right or tells me it’s still processing!! Ugh, wtf?! Glad ya’ll got your money, I need to talk to one of these helpful reps. What number are you calling??
My story…filed 2/10 accepted 2/11, I called two weeks ago and they said that if I didn’t have my money by May 3rd to call. I called and they finished the return right there on the phone with me and said that I should have my money in 3-4 weeks. Checked the WMR yesterday and I have my orange bars back and it says that the money is to be released to my bank tomorrow! This is the first year filing IS form, after all the hassle I am thinking I am going to change my withholdings so that I break even, or bite the bullet and let them take the return at least then I don’t have 11 weeks of the stress of waiting.
Good Morning. No changes here, have the same message on WMR and I still haven’t heard from the congressman’s caseworker that has been assigned to help us. I faxed the authorization form a week ago. This is bullcrap!! I am contacting the congressmans’s office again this morning. Today is my birthday, it would have been nice to have our money. :(
thanks katmill2369, wonder why they did that? makes no sense… I actually talked to a lady today at IRS and she reassigned my case to herself and completed it right on the phone, I was really shocked since I have had such a run around with them lately. She said she processed it and within 7-14 days we should recieve our refund. so crossing my fingers, I hope it may come sooner even…
@frustratedsteph, that the “hold” or “freeze funds” they put on your account once IS gets ahold of it.
my number at bottom of account transcript is 570?? whats that mean? whatthebleep…
ok here is my frustrating story… I filed feb 9th electronically with the form 8379, account transcript says processed on 3/4/2013, my cycle date is 20130705, and I have the code 570 at the bottom of my transcript. It’s may 7th and still no updates, same WMR status. Does any of this mean anything? Said 4/27 was my 11 week date called on 4/29 they said they would send out a referrel which could take up to 45 days! I am so tired of waiting….
Well, I finally broke down and called. After waiting about 30 minutes, I actually got a nice lady on the line. She checked on the status and said it was complete this last week, gave me my refund amount and said it was put into the system for the refund to be sent. She couldn’t give a date but said I should receive it in 2-3 weeks. She said to call back next week if I haven’t received anything. I’m hoping it will come sooner than that!
I efiled my IS claim with return on 1/31, accepted 2/14 due to education credits. This is my 12th week waiting.@katmill2369 I am sorry to hear that. I would hound their @sses everyday, I would ask for supervisors the whole nine yards, this is past ridiculous. I am old and have filed taxes for a long time and I have never ever seen things so bad as this. It has never been this way before where people are begging for their own money. They have paid their tax liability. People are just given one excuse after another. This is happening to a lot of people all over the country. All the reps are saying the same thing. It make me wonder if they have been told to delay as long as possible.
I am just speculating here, but too many people are saying the same thing. My wmr status has not changed and I doubt it will. This happened last year. I got my money and the wmr still said it was processing. What a crock!
@brokenandfrustrated I just don’t understand what the hell is going on. I have been reading a lot of tax community sites, post after post of the same thing. Delay, lie after lie.
We are all hardworking taxpaying citizens. I am seriously considering never voting for anyone ever again. Politians are suppose to be for the people not for themselves. This is a time for them to fight for these problems. Not one person who has contacted their congressman has gotten a positive result.
Bolderdash! @#%$#@!%
ALRIGHT!
Ready for some great news?! (Insert Sarcasm Here)
I called IRS last Wednesday the the 1st of May. The not so nice lady told me my 11 weeks was up on that friday, 2 days later (filed and accepted 2/15), and that I would have to wait until Monday to call back and find out.
So, I spent an hour on hold yesterday to talk to them. The gentelman I talked to was VERY VERY nice and as helpful as he could be. He agreed that the 11 weeks were up and put in a request to the employee working on my case to either solve/wrap up the return or to contact me if he needed anything.
Here’s the kicker!
When I asked how long he had to respond and when I should call back if I haven’t heard anything, guess what he said….you’ll never guess….6 FLIPPIN WEEKS!!!!
He was very apologetic, but needless to say I am PISSED to the point of fuming. I already gave them 11 weeks, now I have to wait another 6??
This is ridiculous!
@katmill2369: Nothing new to report. Case was assigned to our congressman’s aid four days ago and she will be in touch when she has information. We haven’t heard a word. Sorry to hear you aren’t having any luck either. :(
@tiredofwaiting99 NO! My hubs talked to that lady last Thursday and she did NOT put in an inquiry as she told us she put in a referral. So the IRS basically gave themselves a 30 day extension. As of today when I called they were still working on it. :( SO GLAD yours is finally closed tho! Yay!!
@brokeandfrustrated what’s going on w/you?
So, to sum it up, NOTHING is going on with me. No updates on anything. Maybe tomorrow?
Refund dust to everyone!!
We filed our taxes electronically along with the injured spouse form on 2/20 and it was accepted on 2/21. We have not received our taxes yet! We have called numerous times and the reps were not helpful at all. So I called the IRS today and spoke with a really nice rep who told me that it has been going on the 11 week period and we should have a answer. She then transferred me to the Injures Spouse Department (I was on hold for 1 hour 10 minutes) where another rep told me she didn’t know why I was transferred to her because there was nothing she could do UNLESS we are in desperate need for the money like pass due bills, etc. She said that their department is behind on processing taxes because so many was filed this year and we would have to wait. So I told her that we are in need and are bills are getting to the point of being past due (which they are). She put me on hold for 15 minutes and said that she was able to help me and get the form process and we should have our money within 2 to 4 weeks and if we don’t get it by the fourth week to call them back. We shall see!!! Unfortunately the original amount we were told we were getting is way less than what we will be receiving which sucks!
@cervetti74 no, she didn’t give a reason for the 3-5 weeks other than to say it’s ‘standard’ for the funds to be released and a check issued. She said it often happens faster though. Deep down, I’m hoping that they mail our check this Friday, but I know that probably won’t be the case. We aren’t ‘behind’ per say on bills, but we have been robbing Peter to pay Paul in a sense for the last 3 months.
@agarrett29 My husband and I are the same boat. My husband is the sole income earner and the debt is all mine (student loans that we can’t afford to pay back right now) It’s not complicated at all, but they try to make it sound like it is. Our return was filed on February 2nd, and accepted on 2/7 and our case was just closed Friday.
Sorry that was supposed to be accepted 2-11.
I’m one of those crazy stalkers that has been watching this page for a while. We e- filed on 2-8, accepted on 2-10. We have no offsets, no education credits. We only had that annoying IS form attached to our return. I have put in 3 calls to the IRS and no one can give me answers except the last call giving a referral to the IS dept because our 11 weeks are up. We filed an AMENDED return last year with an IS form and it only took 6 weeks! I simply do not understand what the hold up is. Our return is a no-brainer. I had ZERO income and the debt is 100% mine! It isn’t rocket science! I say it’s time we petition the government to audit the IRS. I want a detailed description of what the heck they do all day. I guarantee there is alot of sitting around doing absolutely NOTHING. We are in desperate need of that money. Our septic tank has to be replaced, we are living with my mother because of it, and I am way behind on all our bills. I tried to get a TA, but she said it might delay our refund, so she didn’t recommend it. Why can’t anyone at least tell me SOMETHING at this point? I am just plain mad.
@katmill2369 did you get yours yet. They closed my case 5/2/13 got the allocation for me and the rep said check would go out in 3 weeks. Have you called yet? what is your status. Maybe they closed yours last Thursday too.
@sahm2my4 Did the rep tell you why it’s going to take 3 to 5 more weeks? Jeeze! That seems like an excessive amount of time given that your case is already closed & just basically waiting for some idiot to push a button on their computer to release YOUR money. Ugh! I don’t understand their (IRS) logic at all!
I take that back, after an hour on hold, I was able to talk to a very helpful rep who told me that our case was closed last Friday (5 days after the referral) and we will be receiving the full refund. Unfortunately she said it could take 3-5 weeks to be released though. I won’t complain since at least we’ve made progress.
Good Morning Everyone. No changes for me this morning. WMR says the same old thing. I did hear from a rep in my congressman’s office on Friday afternoon. She has been assigned to our case and told me she would call as soon as she has some information to report. So more waiting. Sigh……
1 week post-referral (13 weeks total) and still no update. :/
@kaitara I wonder if we have the same lazy slacker, lol. My return was accepted on 2/19 and also didn’t get started on in IS until April 25 as well!
I sincerely hope one these jerks has to go through something similar to this at some point in their life. Maybe then they can see how doing their jobs “when they get around to it” , treating people badly, & knowingly withholding information or not going that little extra step when you know you’re the one person who can maybe just be a little better than adequate at your job & help make someone’s day a little easier by making the effort to get REAL information, not just the same old lazy BS. Maybe then they’ll take it a little more to heart & realize how these things truly affect people’s lives & livelihoods!
Sorry to rant. It’s just infuriating to think of the possibility that people’s returns have just been laying around someone’s desk because of their laziness or that somehow we should be punished and have to wait as long as possible because they feel we should pay this debt RIGHT NOW even if it means taking the food out of the mouths of our children or the roof over their heads.
I’m guilty as well of checking a few times a day. Actually, up until about two weeks ago the WMR site mentioned it updates no more than twice per day. I think they recently changed the message, though, as it seems that too many people checking causes the system to temporarily crash. I know there have been a few occasions where my message goes from “processing” to “please verify the information you’ve provided”…basically telling me it doesn’t exist, lol.
Just an update to my last post: I called the IRS back on 5/3, as it was the 12 week mark. After holding for 45 minutes and then finally getting through and speaking with another clueless person, I had another call beep in. Turns out it was my TA. He was fantastic! Told me there was nothing wrong with my return, and that it was simply a case of someone slacking that needed a boot in their @ss. I had filed 2/8 but they didn’t send the form to the IS department until 4/25. Guess it got lost in the mix or something. Anyway, my TA is giving the individual handling the IS form until 5/8 to wrap it up, so hopefully we’ll get a DDD soon. Hopefully!
So a quick poll for everyone!
Even though the IRS says they only update the WMR once per day, how many times a day do you check it? I am guilty of checking “at least” twice per day. Usually I do it online & also through the phone line. I’ve seen people on here who have checked in the morning with no updates & then check late in the day & their status has changed.Yipee! Last night WMR updated and gave me a ddd of May 8! My 11 weeks was up either on April 23 or 25th depending on who you talked to. On the 23rd I talked to a really nice man at the IRS who put in a referral for me (he said it could take up to 30 days), I called back on the 29th and was told that they completed im IS on the 25th and it could take up to 4 weeks to get my refund, I called again yesterday and was told May 8th and this am the WMR was updated. So a total of about 13 weeks for me as long as it does get DD. Good luck everyone!
I am hoping that with all the complaints going on and now the news are getting wind of it…. Maybe… just maybe they will right this wrong VERY soon!!!!
I pray none of you used the H&R Block. They are going to get sued up the WAAAAZOOOOOO!!! There is already a class action suit being started.
Read this article.. This may be part of the problem:H&R Block CEO Offers Apology For Education Credit Fiasco
Julia Oldham Agreed. Perhaps H & R Block’s biggest mistake was the way they handled- or more appropriately mishandled the situation. To let customer’s learn of such err […]Nikki Hogan I am one of the 600,000+ affected and this apology is too little, too late. I would expect nothing less than a partial refund of our preparation fees from […]Janet Novack, Forbes StaffI think H & R Block should give those affected a partial refund of their fees. An apology alone just doesn’t cut it.David Fazio E.A. Coming to HRB’s defense is something I rarely do. In fact, I’m often their most outspoken critic. But there is too much blame to go around and while HRB is […]Candi Hulett I think our preparation fees should be waived! Why should we have to PAY hundreds of dollars to H&R Block if we aren’t getting our return until God knows w […]32 comments,CHICAGO, IL – DECEMBER 28: A sign marks the location of an H&R Block office on December 28, 2010 in Chicago, Illinois. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)
As tax season heads towards the home stretch, hundreds of thousands of taxpayer refunds have been delayed. While taxpayers expected minor glitches associated with a late start to the tax season, the magnitude of the delays, especially those involving the form 8863 for education credits, took the tax world by storm. Angry taxpayers have been complaining about unusually long wait times and, perhaps most frustrating, a complete lack of information about the delays and the next steps. The form was delayed for processing initially by two weeks, a wait time that Forbes writer Janet Novack suggested could have been avoided.Last year, the IRS opened tax season early, on January 6, 2012, and accepted e-filed returns as early as January 17, 2012. Since April 15, 2012, happened to fall on a Sunday and Emancipation Day in Washington D.C. was marked on April 16, 2012, tax season was pushed all of the way out to April 17, 2012. Adding yet another day? It was a leap year. The result? An embarrassment of filing riches. The tax season was officially open for 102 days (the season for e-filing was open for 91 days).
Contrast that to 2013. Tax season didn’t open until January 30, 2013. No leap year, no holiday. The due date for returns remains April 15, 2013. The result? Tax season is open for 75 days. Same number of returns (more or less). About 75% of the available time.
Once tax season opened, almost immediately, the IRS noticed problems with some tax returns claiming education credits and issued a series of alerts. The problem didn’t get better, however, and taxpayers continued to report problems with the credits. Most of those problems appeared to be related to returns filed with H&R Block. H&R Block, for its part, remained quiet throughout much of the controversy, offering statements and updates to taxpayers on its Facebook page. This weekend, H&R Block CEO Bill Cobb issued the following apology:
Let me set the record straight about the Form 8863 issue that has affected you, our valued clients: we made a mistake when the tax return was sent to the IRS. And you deserve an apology, an explanation, and to know what we’re doing about it.
Here’s what happened: this year’s tax season started later than any in history (January 30th), followed by a further delay in form 8863 not being accepted until February 14. Not good for everyone. When the IRS began accepting the form, we immediately sent your returns, with the intention of getting you your refund as quickly as possible. In our zeal to move so quickly, we missed a step. Specifically there was a disconnect in the transmission of form 8863 from our delivery system to the IRS E-file system, and this caused the delay many of you are experiencing. We fixed the transmission issue right away, but couldn’t undo it for those that had already been sent.
I want to make it clear that this was absolutely not the fault of your tax professional; your return was prepared accurately. This was an issue with the form transmission. This was our mistake — and I sincerely apologize. I want you to know that we hear the frustration of those impacted by this issue loud and clear, and we’re working every avenue we can to get your refund to you as fast as possible.
We have been and remain in daily communication with the IRS, who are doing everything they can to speedily process all returns. We know that clients are beginning to see progress, funding dates are being communicated and refunds are definitely being funded. But we also recognize that in an already delayed season, it’s still not as fast as we want, and we’re not letting up until every client has his or her refund.
We are also committing to more frequent and regular updates with you as we have news to share, and we know we can do a better job here too.
Finally, I know an apology won’t put your tax refund in your hands right away, and many of you still have questions. But right now, our singular focus is to get you that refund, and we have all hands on deck to help make this right.
So, no update, but an apology. Will it be enough to satisfy taxpayers? You tell me.
and this….
H&R Block error delays thousands of refunds
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Get Listed HereJames Dornbrook
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Kansas City Business JournalEmail | Twitter | LinkedIn | Google+ H&R Block Inc. made a mistake related to educational tax credits that will delay thousands of refunds for as long as six weeks.
IRS spokeswoman Michelle Eldridge confirmed the problem with tax returns in a story published Tuesday on MarketWatch.com. The IRS said 600,000 returns were affected, but wouldn’t say how many of those are from the H&R Block.
H&R Block (NYSE: HRB) spokesman Gene King said that the company is aware of the problem and that it will not be an issue for additional tax filers. He said the company is working with the IRS to expedite a solution for the people who were affected and to find a way to keep this type of situation from occurring in the future.
I wonder if Turbo Tax had the same 8863 for glitch that H&R Block had.
My heart goes out to everyone that had a tax return with forms 8863 and 8379.
I suspect that the IRS is stalling for time. We must fight for our money!
Well, I’m still here too. Filed 1/30, accepted 2/14 due to ed. credits. I ordered transcripts finally, I’m in the 0805 group…whatever that means. No updates on WMR or offset hotline. The most frustrating part is that I’m fighting my debt right now to prevent this next year, some sort of error made when I separated from the military put me in the offset system. So I’ve been on the phone about that all week. I haven’t called the IRS about the IS claim…from reading all these posts it seems like a waste of time. I figure they will get around to it when they do, so I just keep waiting…
Congrats to those who have gotten theirs, to the rest of you don’t worry, you aren’t alone!I have been stalking this forum for months now, praying that I wouldn’t be waiting as long as some of you folks. Not so surprisingly, here I am. Waiting a bit over 8 weeks now. We desperately need this money so I got a TA last week and faxed my paperwork over last weekend. She called me today to tell me that the case is closed but she couldn’t give me a DD until the computer updated and that shed check on kn me on May 17!?! MAY 17!!!! That’s all she could tell me. I’m not sure if she really helped me out or not. She can’t seem to tell me anything and May 17 would just about be 11 weeks. Unbelievable!!
Hang in there everyone… it cant get much worse. Right?!?
Well I too have been following for some time now and decided to join. I filed my return with TT and my IS form electronically with it. It originally was accepted 2/8 but the ed. Credit made it 2/14. So i have been waiting 12 weeks actually. I call the IRS once a week and get the same go around. There seems to be no problems but it’s still processing. From what I see the whole problem lies with that ed. Credit and the IS. It looks to me like all those who filed IS and had the ED credit in that time frame are still waiting. That is just so frustrating. You would think that they would get those out first. But everyday i still check the WMR to find no change. I can’t help but think it’s so very close but my heart just can’t take all this waiting. So please know how good it’s been to see others with the same situation and feeling the same way. Thank you guys for at least letting me know I am not alone.
@cervetti74 so far they have always sent a letter notifying that they took out so much money for the offset. Yet, this year they still haven’t. So you might find out why they haven’t ever sent one to you.
@brokeandfrustrated this is bull crap. I am sorry but the Feds have got to get their act together… This is stupid. Let me know if they do send one to you and I will do the same…
Thanks, everyone….
@purple33: We haven’t ever been notified of an offset this year either. The offset line gives no information other than our return is subject to offset. We live in Ohio. I haven’t asked to speak to our TA’s supervisor yet, I want to see what the congressman is able to do to help first. I haven’t heard from him since I faxed the authorization form to him Wednesday morning. I am getting ready to email him to ask if he received the form.
I’ve been sitting back reading the replies here for a few weeks, so I figured it was time to chime in. Our tax return/IS were both filed electronically by H&R Block and accepted 2/8. Today is the 12 week mark. We’ve made quite a few phone calls, and up until this week got nowhere. Each time they told us they had no information, and to call back . WMR still shows the same message it has for months, that our return is being processed.
Imagine my frustration when the woman I spoke to this week told me that there were NO notes on our account, and that it had not even been LOOKED AT yet! We know there are no issues with the return, this is our second year filing IS and nothing has changed. She claimed “they must really be falling behind over there” and then proceeded to tell me that she would file a referral. She then said “hopefully” we’ll get a call from them in seven business days.
I could scream right now…they have had our return for almost three months and it hasn’t even been looked at. How is that possible???
@brokeandfrustrated WTF?! Seriously WTF?! I’m so so sorry that this is happening to you? What a shit tastic TA you have! Hopefully tomorrow brings better news.
@tiredofwaiting99, I filed 1/30, f/a 2/14 b/c of the ed credits, shipped to IS 2/18. So yes, our true 11 weeks was up TODAY.
@purple33 I don’t think we have EVER gotten any notices from the Treasury Dept except for one time a few years ago which actually came about 3 weeks after the fact!!!
Also I have no proof that the Dept of Treasury actually took out anything from my husbands debt. I haven’t even got a letter or notice about any offsets this year. Is anyone else in this boat?
@brokenandfrustrated I am so soryy you have a crappy TA. That just sucks!!! Have you asked to speak with her supervisor. Also which state do you live in? I hope you guys get help soon. Sorry about not being around everyone. Hang in there!
I have an update for everyone and it’s not a good update. Our TA called a bit ago and had a really bad attitude with me on the phone. Said she got our documents and would send them right over to the IRS and then would call me on May 14th to update me on the status of our refund. She was trying to rush me off the phone but I wouldn’t let her. I said I have a question, since we were never notified of a problem and there obviously was a problem all along are we now going to have to wait another 11 weeks and she said no not that long, but of course couldn’t tell me how long. Then she tried to tell me that the reason we weren’t notified of a problem is because it wasn’t a math error, that if it were a math error the system would have caught it, but since it was a different kind of error it wasn’t discovered until the return got to the IS department and they started to manually process the injured spouse claim. I am sorry but I am not buying it and I told her so. She didn’t like it much but oh well. Then she got snotty and repeated “well all I can tell you is I will call you back on May 14th unless I need something else from you before then. I sure hope my congressman can move the process along. Maybe the TA is aware the congressman is involved now and that is why she had such a crappy attitude with me on the phone. Who knows? I wish I could call an IRS rep just to see what other lies I will be told, but I guess once you have a TA they won’t help you. All I know is that the IRS is a huge boil on the butt of humanity!!
@katmill2369 what are your dates again I filed 2/8/13 it was accepted by the IRS 2/14/13 cycle date 20130705 3/4/2013 I forgot what that date means. I remember you saying that you dates were close to mine. So you are saying here that the May 2nd date which is today is our true 11th week. Did you call the 1040 number and got this information? I can’t believe they are lying about putting you on hold.
No update on anything. Not WMR, not the offset line, not the 1040 number.
So, hubs talked to a VERY helpful rep (must have the magic IRS touch IDK) and was told that yes, are dates are right, ours funds should have been released TODAY. She put in an “unofficial” inquiry (an email to someone she knows) and took our number and said she would call us early tomorrow morning. She also told my hubs that A LOT of ppl working there don’t give a s**t and will say anything to get you off the phone. They are getting a lot of calls from angry IS filers. She also told him that if anyone is putting you on hold to “check your account” they are full of shit. They are picking their butts.
So basically, call back until you get someone willing to help you. Be proactive and bug the crap out of them. This was our 3rd call today.
@tiredofwaiting99, I don’t want a TA or my congressman involved for the same reason. It seems to delay things. Or it’s really hit and miss and depending on who you get it will help or hinder you!
I hope everyone gets their money soon and gets some damn help from these ppl!