Tax refunds will soon be on their way. You filed. The deadline is passed and immediately, you want to know when you’ll get a refund. Unfortunately we keep hearing rumors that you can find clandestine methods of discovering this information, other than on the IRS website. The tax squad at Gavrilov &Co is here to squelch those rumors.
IRS Reveals Tax Refunding Myths
Recently, the Internal Revenue Service issued a news release concerning this very issue of tax refund dates. In fact their news release detailed and smashed several myths about tax refunds. You will probably hear these myths from rumor-mongers from now until the Oct. 15 extension, and beyond. Gavrilov & Co wants you to be in-the-know about the myths. In the first place, the IRS stated flatly that “there is no secret way to find out when a refund will be issued.”
Misinformation and Myths Abound-Number One
Here at Gavrilov & Co, we think the worst myth is the misinformation about the “The Where’s My Refund? The myth says the tool “is wrong because there’s no deposit date yet.” The right answer instead of the myth is that “the tool shows when the tax return status has been received.” The IRS says, “It means that we have received the tax return and are processing it.”
Reasons Your Tax Refund Takes Longer Than Others:
Additionally, The IRS has several bits of information about the Where’s My Refund? Tool. So let’s take a look at facts instead of spreading undue rumors about the Where’s My Refund? website tool.
Now, it’s entirely true that your neighbor or best friend might get their returns sooner than you. So, just in case you don’t know, let’s take a look at why refunds may be delayed. (These IRS points are NOT myths.)
- If the tax return has errors.
- If your tax return is incomplete.
- Were you affected by identity theft or fraud? If so, expect a longer wait.
- Did you include the Form 8379? That is the “Injured Spouse Allocation,”and the IRS warns it could take up to 14 weeks to process.
In cases of incomplete or inaccurate returns, the IRS may require additional information from you.
Additionally, we might add, once you have filed, do not file a second time. Likewise phone calls of inquiry will do you no good in this regard.
Tax Refund Rumor Number Two: About Adjusting Withholding
Secondly, it is untrue that if you receive a refund this year, you need not adjust withholding for 2020. No. Now is the time to make changes. It will keep you from a shock next year. “Adjusting tax withholding with an employer can help ensure that neither too much nor too little tax is withheld from an employee’s paycheck.” Do you know about the handy Tax Withholding Estimator at the IRS online resource? You input a little information at this site and the tool will help you “figure out the right amount.”
Our Third Worrisome Rumor: When the Refund is Less
So you think your tax return was correctly done, but your figures do not agree with the refund. The myth is that in this case the IRS made an error. No. The truth is “There are a lot of reasons that cause your tax refund to differ from what you expected. The most common ones are: your own mathematical mistakes or:
- Perhaps you still owe other federal or state taxes, child support, student loans or other federal non-tax obligations.
- Alternatively, the IRS could be withholding only part of the tax refund because they are reviewing an item you claimed on the return.
The IRS will notify you if an adjustment for any of these reasons occur.
A Really Unbelievable Tax Refund Myth–Our Number Four: The Call for Secret Help
Some people have the false notion that calling the IRS or tax professionals can get them a better refund date. To this old myth, IRS assistors as well as tax professionals-like us-have to just say “No.” You see, we cannot change your refund date and we honestly don’t get secret information to speed up your return. And, by the way, to defeat another myth, ordering a tax transcript is not a secret ticket to a refund date. It is not a way to speed-up the money, and never has been.
Special Tax Refunds: Your Gavrilov Take-Aways
We don’t know how these myths and rumors get started. But we can tell taxpayers to rely on IRS’s “Where’s My Refund” tool or the automated hotline at 800-829-1954. On your phone it’s the cleverly named IRS2Go mobile app.
As always we thank you for reading the Gavrilov & Co blog.
And speaking of clever, we thought we’d leave you with a bit of levity. We close this general tax myth blog with the words of Conan O’Brian.