Due to govt shut down are refunds being delayed and how long?

[bedw8261]

I have a client who hasn't received her refund and it has been over a month.  When you  go into the IRS website it says that they received it.  Is there a phone number that I can call to find out what is the delay?

[Just-Lisa-Now-]

The shut down didn't cause any delays for any of my clients.  Only received, not Processing?

Was it a return you filed on the first days the filing season opened?  Sometimes returns filed on the opening days stampede get hung up at IRS.

Id start with the Tax Practitioner Hotline 866-860-4259  and see what they recommend

[itonewbie · Accepted solution]

Yours guess is as good as mine.  If you are the third party designee, you can call the PPS to follow up on the status.

If the return is still being processed, they'd probably just give you the standard official line and ask you to be patient because of the recent shut down.  No one will commit to you how quickly a refund will be processed.  If you follow the discussions on this board, there are times when refund comes faster than usual but there are many cases where it takes longer than one would expect.

And if your client mailed in a return, bear in mind it could take 6 to 8 weeks for the return to be processed.  Returns with or that omitted certain items/information that the IRS wishes to review in greater details may also be delayed.

FWIW, here're excerpts from statistics released by the IRS in the last week or two:

The Internal Revenue Service sent out about 4.67 million tax refunds in the week ending February 1, down more than 24 percent from about 6.17 million in the same period in 2018, according to agency the agency. 

Seven point two million returns with 39 billion dollars of returns are on hold for EICT and ACTC processing which begins February 15 and first direct deposits are expected on February 27.