IRS Takes Months to Process Returns and Ignores Calls
Individuals are experiencing significant difficulties with the IRS, including delayed refunds, unexpected notices, errors in processing, and an inability to communicate with IRS representatives. These issues range from incorrect direct deposit information to data entry errors and technical website problems, causing frustration and uncertainty for taxpayers.
SOURCES (60)
“She will need to report the amount but she should be able to enter that it was received for you, then you report the amount on your return.”
“It’s a write off” keeps telling me to put 4000 in box a for Ctc and eitc
“When you amend to fix underpaid tax, often the CA FTB will waive penalties but not interest. I had a client amend a return from ~4 years ago and they just charged him interest on the underpaid tax amount.”
“Thanks for replying. But the federal return was correct. The error only applied to CA income.”
Thanks for clarifying this! This confirms my understanding now.
“My EA preparer made an error on my 2024 CA return. I discovered it when I was preparing my 2025 return in 2026. It was not a calculation error, but a failure to report income that resulted in a refund of ~$450 more than I should have received. I immediately repaid the overpayment to stop the clock on interest accruing. I contacted the preparer and he agreed to cover the interest and penalties, which he estimated would be about $250. But I just received the notice from FTB and they are saying I o”
“Thanks! I was not trying to argue, indeed I wrote this post because I got even more confused after talking to the nice lady.”
“Like, once you tell them: "Yoohoooo!!! I owed you 20k for 2016", they'll start saying: "Alright, where the heck is my money". Maybe you'd want to prepare all the years before submitting the first one. Or at the least, it's something to be aware of. Your submission is what will trigger their collection efforts. Which will be a barrage of letters, filings, leins. Particularly, if you want to try to get Offer in Compromise. Which you can only get once all past 6 or 7”
“Someone asked for advise about filing their 2025 taxes. I didn't have an answer so I thought I'd ask the community... They didn't make any income last year but had a $10k loss in an investment. Since there is income this year, a tax advisor suggested they file for 2025 but not include the loss because it will trigger an audit and decrease their accumulated social security benefit. Does anyone have any insite? Thanks submitted by /u/Bohemian_Life1990 [link] [comments”
“I’m a CPA and remember enough to feel confident but since I only do one return/year I’m afraid of forgetting something, so I always enter my info into turbo tax which tells you the estimated federal and state refund, which I use as a check figure against my return with the expectation that even if I miss some detail the amount should be correct. It’s arguable if my time is worth the fee I’m saving but I’ve done this for over a decade, curious if anyone else does as well. submitted by”
“That’s fair. My understanding was the date you depart CA with the intent to make another state your primary residence is the date that residency changes. So I have been going off of that date for my tax purposes. I guess if CA disputes this based on the timeline of our paperwork, we can always pay them whatever tax they think we owe at that point.”
“Why do you even need to take it that far? IRS has already clarified that state refunds are not considered income for federal tax purposes (outside of potential itemizing issues). They don’t distinguish between types of credits here - it doesn’t matter why you are getting the refund. It’s not taxable income.”
Sounds like leaving it blank worked out for you. Mystery solved!
“Ok, mom has a job. Important info. It may be easier to simply have Mom file a new W4 with additional withholding on line 4c if you don't want to deal with the SS office. IRS doesn't care where the withholding comes from.”
“IRS is not going to grant an offer in compromise to a couple making 150k a year. Installment agreement certainly.”
“I just had a baby August If eligible for Ctc and eitc Do I put 4000 in step 3 I am single I make 25000 a year Average 642 a week submitted by /u/Imaginary_Lion_8261 [link] [comments]”
“If you're saying you received a payment characterized as a "stipend" and you performed services for it, yes the IRS considers this revenue related to work performed and it's gonna be subject to self-employment and income tax . You will need to file a return depending on how much the total is. If the "stipend" was explicitly to pay living expenses, you need to justify the total by providing the "employer" backup for the living expenses. This can get complicat”
“You posted the same exact thing in this sub a few weeks ago and it was removed by the mods. And the answer was yes, why the hell wouldn’t you have to pay tax on your income.”
“We did update our driver’s licenses and voter registration to PA within a few months of our stated residency date (date we departed CA). We also took ownership of and registered a car in PA for the first time. Our situation is a bit complicated in the sense that we have owned homes in both states for several years, and we will still be spending time in CA. But going forward we plan to spend the majority of the year in PA and use it as our “home base”, and we did these things to try to establish”
“IRS Letter 4883c received after filing taxes with Identity Theft Pin I attempted to file my taxes this year using HR Block. My taxes are super simple. Standard deduction and taxes were paid from every paycheck. Expecting a return around $1300. I tried to file my taxes, and it was rejected because I had forgotten they sent me a pin. I found the letter, and filed my taxes again and it was accepted. 4 weeks later, I just received Letter 4883c. I have called at random times every single day for the”
“I attempted to file my taxes this year using HR Block. My taxes are super simple. Standard deduction and taxes were paid from every paycheck. Expecting a return around $1300. I tried to file my taxes, and it was rejected because I had forgotten they sent me a pin. I found the letter, and filed my taxes again and it was accepted. 4 weeks later, I just received Letter 4883c. I have called at random times every single day for the last 10 days, and every time it says the hotline is overloaded and no”
“Do not, ffs, ever hide anything. Declare it all. But ask a good tax advisor for help.”
“Let us know how you survive that audit. The IRS has 3 years to catch up per return. Every single person I know who has played these games eventually gets their return held up. Then come the penalties and interest. Hope you don’t live in a high tax state like CA or NY, as the state is often more aggressive than the IRS. Your CPA and lawyers will get paid twice to represent you.”
“No, because it's September. Did you factor that on to your advice here? Or that the child tax credit is 2200? Or that op gets 2000 of earned income tax credit to until they make 38k a year? My advice considered several factors that you ignored.”
“Thank you Do I claim eitc on w2 or w4 And also That someone says the ctc is 2200 and hasn’t a updated on my w4 sheet,my w4 says multiply by 2000”
“Thank you Do I claim eitc on w2 or w4 And also That someone says the ctc is 2200 and hasn’t a updated on my w4 sheet,my w4 says multiply by 2000”
“Not just set aside, you have to pay double, both the employee and employer side of taxes.”
“Thanks, that makes sense! To confirm—when you say the state withholding should go on the return as-is, I think you mean we report the full amount withheld to CA (i.e., everything shown on the 1099-Rs), even withholding on distributions we believe are ultimately not CA-taxable—and then we separately claim the correct CA-source amount via a subtraction/adjustment on the return itself (and accompanying explanation note). Do I have that right?”
“Aside from the other advice you got: 2023 and 2024 can be e-filed if you get a IP PIN for them. Depends on software, though. Some might choose not to support that feature.”
“So in your view, we do not need to go to all our pensions etc. and ask them to revise our 1099-Rs in order to fix this? This is what he would have us do, I’m skeptical that they will even agree to this”
“That CPA should not be preparing your taxes. Because he’s wrong about the 1099-R, and wrong to file you as nonresidents. Possibly he wants to avoid responding to an inquiry from California.”
“File all the taxes. They can't get an installment agreement without them filed. Once filed they can get an installment agreement. And pay the real estate taxes before they lose their house.”
“That "sharing your browsing activity" thing might be them trying to get ahead of IRC§7216. A long time ago, some tax preparers did some questionable things with the information they were entrusted with. This bit of the tax code tries to criminalize any misuse of any and all information we receive as part of preparation. It's written very broadly and I actually don't think this will save them if it's determined that you provided them this information in connection with tax p”
Tell me you're leaving money on the table without telling me.
“So if I were to type something in line 3, what should I be ballpark to? I would like to get the rest of my paychecks to a more considerable amount upfront than at the end of the year. ~$900 in total taxes on this upcoming paycheck is just too much to continue”
“You don’t set the tax money aside. You have to pay it quarterly or suffer underpayment penalties that accrues around 8% interest that compounds daily. Best to make catch-up payments ASAP to stop the penalties from accruing.”
“Two things worth separating here. First, the estimated tax system is cumulative, not four independent buckets. When you make the Q3 payment you can include what you should have sent in for the April income. The Q2 shortfall does not disappear, but the underpayment penalty is computed like interest for the days you were short, and on $1,200 of freelance income that is going to be very small. Second, and this is the part most people miss: W-2 withholding is treated as if it were paid evenly across”
“Even with $1400/week income, your federal tax should only be about $125/week. If this was a one-time large check containing e.g. a relocation bonus, expect the tax to go back to normal when the size of the check does. Otherwise, fill out your W4 accurately. If you don't have dependents, a spouse's income, etc. then you'll leave most of the form blank. Don't try too hard to get the tax exactly right for 2026 when you'll just have to change it again in January.”
“The 2025 FBAR is not late. It is due October 15th (due to an automatic extension all filers get). So the killer exposure (willful FBAR) doesn't exist here (if OP acts fast). The 2025 8938 is late (unless they got an extension). If OP amends, then OP might get an automatic penalty for late 8938 ($17K), but that could be mitigated with reasonable cause / first time abatement. I wouldn't do streamlined for this. I would take my chances with the late 8938 with reasonable cause.”
“I’m a CPA in Minneapolis MN that specializes in this area. First question, did you file an extension for 2025?”
“Thanks for your details. I am ready for late filing explanation letter, form 1120 and 5472. And should I mail out to below address immediately by UPS? Internal Revenue Service 1973 N. Rulon White Blvd Ogden, UT 84201-0027”
“That's what I said, dissolve before the end of the year because of you do it after 12/31 you owe another year. You can file the final tax return later, but before the March deadline. He's already paid this year through his CPA's ill-advised advice.”
“Looking for an advice from tax professionals or anyone who has navigated similar foreign financial account reporting issue. Background: US arrival: late August 2024, never lived or worked in the US before. 2024 tax year: filed as a Non-Resident Alien (Form 1040-NR via Sprintax). I was present in the US for no more than 120 days in 2024 and believe the 1040-NR filing was correct. 2025 tax year: full-year US tax resident (Form 1040 filed via TaxSlayer). Foreign Accounts (ordinary personal bank acc”
“HI Everyone, I had an e-file rejection for EIN return type mixmatch. It is for an 1120S return and the extension went though fine back in Feb. Since then, I have revoked the S election in March as of 1 Jan 2026 and filed the 8832 to bring it back to a disregarded entity. Received confirmation fro the IRS confirming the 1 Jan 2026 date. Now I went to file their final 2025 1120S and it is rejecting. I called the e-file line and the rep helping researched for a bit and then said she needs to get th”
“Given the massive hassle folks are reporting with the new ID verification garbage, my goal is absolutely to owe somewhere between 1 and 1000 dollars.”