'I still don't have my money': IRS still hasn't processed millions of 2019 tax returns
The Internal Revenue Service said in mid-February that it had yet to process 6.7 million individual income tax returns for 2019, based on data through Jan. 30.
Getting those returns processed — and any refunds involved in hand — may require additional review, dealing with corrections and addressing some ID theft-related problems where the IRS will need to work with taxpayers, according to the IRS.
Most 2019 federal income tax returns have been processed. But the lingering problems are significant, enough that the House Ways and Means Committee is asking the IRS for answers and calling for the IRS to extend the tax return deadline for 2020 tax returns beyond April 15.
"One year later, another unique filing season is underway, and many of these same pandemic-related difficulties and challenges persist for taxpayers, practitioners, and the IRS," according to a letter dated Feb. 18 signed by U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-New Jersey, the chairman of the House Ways and Means subcommittee on oversight and others on the subcommittee. The letter was addressed to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig.
Nobody ever wants to wait up to a year for a federal income tax refund. It's money that many people often use to cover holiday bills, winter utilities and even going to the doctor after delaying visits because they don't have the money.
But the backdrop of economic uncertainty surrounding the pandemic makes things even more troublesome for those who lost a job and had expected extra tax refund cash many months ago.
Some who faced headaches with those tax refunds said they had trouble getting their stimulus cash, too.
Errant tax notices trigger frustration
The confusion has continued into 2021. In early February, the IRS sent out notices to about 260,000 taxpayers nationwide that claimed that the people had not yet filed their 2019 tax return.
One small problem? Many of those taxpayers did file their 2019 tax returns promptly last year, but the IRS has not yet processed them.
Oops. Later, the IRS issued a statement that essentially said don't panic or respond to the CP59 notice, if you did file a 2019 return.
"Due to pandemic-related shutdowns, the IRS has not completed processing all 2019 returns at this time," the IRS noted in its statement.
"Therefore, the CP59 notices should not have been sent because some portion of the recipients may actually have filed a return that is still being processed."
"There is no need to call or respond to the CP59 notice because the IRS continues to process 2019 tax returns as quickly as possible. The IRS regrets any confusion caused by this mailing."
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