[mafalo1989]

I have a client that had their tax return efiled on 4/13/17. I did the efile myself so I know it was filed properly and on time. It’s now December 4th and they still haven’t received their refund and if you check Where’s My Refund it tells us the return is still processing. The address and all contact information is correct and they haven’t received any letters from the IRS telling them they need to send in additional information. I’ve looked up and given them about 4 or 5 different IRS numbers to call and they can’t get a live person on the phone even though I know at least 2 of the phone numbers say they take you to a live person and I got them directly from the IRS website. I’ve called for other client’s in the past and they tell me I can’t obtain information on behalf of the client and even if I brought them on the phone they wouldn’t be able to give us any information other than what’s on Where’s My Refund. There is absolutely no reason their return should be taking this long to process, it was a fairly easy return to complete without tons of information that needed to be put into the return. They had a little under 20 pages of info to include with the return and we manage their finances so if they had something we would have easily caught it.

Does anyone know how to get around this so I can help these poor people out? They’ve been waiting on $400 since April and they’re retired and could use that refund especially with the holiday coming up.

[Tncincy]

The client need to call the IRS themselves. If the return is still in process status, then the IRS does have it, maybe there's a problem with the return or it's under review, so the client has to either call or visit an IRS office near them. The IRS will not tell you anything concerning a clients information without client consent (privacy laws).

It begins with a 75
Been here too long as a cheerleader....ready to pass

[Recked]

The IRS can't accept 3rd party designee as indicated on the return unless the return has made it through processing, which it has not apparently.
I would suggest getting a signed POA, fax it to the IRS, then give them a call in 48-72 hours.
Alternatively you can call and when they ask if you have POA you tell them you have it in front of you and can fax it to them.

Call the practitioner line after your have the signed POA for both taxpayer and spouse.

Above advise is assuming you have POA capable credentials. If not I am not sure how to help you.

I had a client call me today that had tried to call the IRS. 1.5 hours on hold, one redirect and then a “courtesy disconnect”.
You have to love the IRS. Mornings seem to be the best time to actually talk to someone.

[mafalo1989]

I understand that I can't do anything about it and if the return is in process the IRS must have received it. It's ridiculous. There is no reason their return should be taking this long to process, they don't have the EITC or any children or dependents and they did not have Obamacare, there are no other special circumstances. It was a super easy return. There was nothing in their tax info that would cause the IRS to review the return or take this long to approve the refund and send it. Unfortunately the clients live 3+ hours away from our office and the nearest IRS office so that isn't really an option unless they make a trip to the city. I've given them every phone number I can find on the IRS website regarding this topic and they can't get a live person on the phone. I haven't called the IRS regarding a refund, only amendments and past due payment/penalty type of things and I already know they won't be able to provide any information but those numbers wouldn't even be the correct number to give the client to call. Since September, when they first notified me of the issue, I've given them 5 phone numbers. Two of which should have provided them with live agents to speak to and they couldn't get any live people on the phone.

Does anyone have a correct phone number I can give them? It's totally insane that they are having this much trouble with this.

[Recked]

I am willing to bet the IRS sent them a letter requesting more information and the letter was lost or never delivered.
There could have been additional tax forms, or withholding, or estimated payments not reported.
Carryover amounts from prior year may have been reduced or not applied.
Someone could have filed a fraudulent return using their information.
The possibilities for a snag in processing are endless.
I've been doing this for 15 years. The IRS is more often than not “ridiculous”. You should get used to it now.
I would email or mail the client a POA to sign, and be able to talk to the IRS on their behalf.
If you do not have POA authority, do you have a boss, business partner or associate that can sign off on a POA?

When you use the Where's my refund page, does the IRS website give an explanation, case number, or phone number to call?
If you call the practitioner line, they will not be able to give you information, but you can tell them that your client sent in their return in April and never received a refund or notice, and advise the IRS agent to please resend any outstanding notice directly to the client.

[mafalo1989]

There's no case number, no explanation, no phone number. That's why I'm asking for contact information for a live person that these folk's can actually reach. They've been clients for years and we have record of every asset, investment, insurance product, bank account, literally everything in their possession we have a record of. They included tax documents for all of those things. I was able to confirm the client's primary SSN and address which I'm not sure they were technically allowed to do, if they received a letter they would have received it. They are very diligent in protecting their identity because in years past they did have it stolen and they stay on top of all that now so I doubt that's it. In my experience with IRS letters our client's that chose not to respond or inform us have been sent a subsequent letter for the same thing later on. They had no carryover amounts and they have no need to make estimated tax payments, they have received a refund every year for the 7 years we have on record. I know they aren't ridiculous all the time but in this case they are, I've reworked their return and hunted every possible source of income from these people and I hunted down everything that they could have possibly missed on their return and I've tracked every withholding they could have made, they had no missing information. All of their financial transactions go through our office and the back office that supports us and the back office can not accept orders directly from the client, the orders have to come directly from the advisor and they must include a signed letter of authorization with signatures of both the advisor and client. All their money they get deposited in their bank accounts is first approved by us, then sent to the back office where it's approved again, and then gets deposited in the client's account. We have multiple copies of records for every transaction that has been completed on their behalf for 7 years. I'm not going to call the IRS ridiculous unless they are actually being ridiculous.

[Recked]

The only number I give to clients to call the IRS is 800-829-1040, or the number on any notice.
If they are diligent and call in the mornings on different days they will eventually get someone to talk to them.

Since you continue to avoid my questions regarding a POA I will assume that option is off the table.
This process will all be so much easier when you have the CPA (or EA) and can sell representation (POA) services to your clients.

Final suggestion. Send a certified letter to the IRS on your company letterhead with a copy of the tax return. In your letter, explain the attached tax return was e-filed on 4/15/17. Provide a print out of the e-file acceptance behind your letter. Explain in the letter that your client has not received their refund and you are inquiring about the delay. The IRS cannot write back to you, but they will contact your client, usually with an explanation as well as a copy of the 2848 or other form that your client can sign to authorize the IRS to speak to you.
Their letter will usually start… We have received communication from XXX regarding your 2016 tax return but we do not have proper authorization on file to speak to them so we are contacting you directly.

If you have neither a CPA or EA, you may still be able to sign off on a POA using designation (h) if you meet the criteria as outlined on page 2 Part II.
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f2848.pdf
You need a POA for both the taxpayer and spouse, (no longer joint POAs) They sign section 7. Your tax software should be able to generate these forms for you.
If you have questions on how to complete the form let me know.
If you do not currently have a CAF number one will be assigned to you once you send in your first POA.

Redoing the tax return and reviewing records is just an exercise in chasing your tail until you figure out what the IRS wants.

[ellejay]

Try others' advice, they need to find out why the return is being held. You can also give them the number to the IRS taxpayer advocate service in their state.

https://taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/

[Tncincy]

well I am sorry you can't get any immediate answers. Your loyalty is commended to your clients. I have found that when there is a bottle neck in communications, the client has been notified of request for additional information. They just need to wait for the correspondence.

It begins with a 75
Been here too long as a cheerleader....ready to pass

[jenpen]

I would definitely recommend contacting the IRS and seeing what's going on. I've had luck with that in the past if we were listed as the third-party agent. We filed a tax return last year and had a similar situation, but when I did some research I noticed that the refunds were delayed by up to 10 weeks, and not for the EIC or anything else. Just because. I told them if they didn't have the refund to contact me again, and they received it a week or two after the 10 week mark. But again, if you contact the IRS you may be able to get general information like a notice had been sent for additional information or whatever the hold up is, even if they can't tell you any details. But I generally try to waste my time before having the client do it.

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[ryan.andrew6]

You should be able to call the practitioner line if you checked the third party designed box, I’ve done it several time the past few months. If the return shows up in “where’s my refund” it’s already been processed at least once so that should not be an issue.

Usually, if there is an identified issue the status will reflect that. Like I had someone whose bank rejected a deposit and the status was “rejected”.

[TommyTheCat]

Could be I'D theft issues with the account such as someone has filed already or attempted to file in your clients ssn in an attempt to get s fraudulent refund and the service has a good on the account while it requests additional info from your client to process the refund and your client lost or never opened that info request letter. Get the POA and call the practitioners hotline or tell the client to call 829 1040 number if they won't sign POA.

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