Will my IRS tax refund be returned to me "plus interest" for their delay? Can the IRS be sued?

Bobby is right on the money, although long winded as always. (We love you Bobby. :) ) Contact TAS, not your congressman. Your congressman will just forward your inquiry to TAS. Cut out the middle man.

You will be paid interest because the IRS did not refund your overpayment within 45 days of receipt of your return or 4/15, whichever was later.

You can file a refund suit if you filed your return more than 6 months ago, but you'll be wasting your time and money. The IRS delay is due to one thing and one thing only: they have a gazillion ID theft cases they are working on and yours has not yet reached the top of the metaphorical stack. A properly handled TAS case will move your case to the top of someone's stack. When you contact TAS let them know you are struggling financially. Are you behind on the rent or the light bill? Let them know.

Good luck

I Just woke up to the same thing as most of the people on here. I Used turbo tax to e-file, it was accepted that same day, said I should receive my refund by 1/30/09, but the IRS where's my refund said 2/3/09. Woke up this morning and checked my bank, refund not there. Checked the IRS where's my refund again and it said now my refund should be deposited by 2/10/09. Just go off the phone with the IRS, the man I spoke to said, they have been having a problem all week with the where's my refund, and basically said I can try back monday, but the way things have been going I probably won't get it til the 10th or later. They don't really have any answers, I have never had this problem, I've always gotten my refund early. I really needed that money today, and now I'm lookin at waiting 10 days or more. Just spoke to Turbo tax, who gave me a chart that said I should have gotten my refund today, well alot of help that was, it just made me more mad. The women I spoke to there said she honestly believes I will be getting my refund very soon, and that this is the first day the IRS had deposited refunds into anyones accounts (which I don't believe) and that they do it every friday and to wait til next friday and it should be there. Thats easy for her to say, how can I believe it now since I was already told one day and it was changed, how do I know it won't change again? I had to stop payment on some of my bills that were set to be paid next week based on my refund coming, and now I'm all screwed up. THANK YOU IRS! So I called the IRS again, (that hold music makes me want to scream) because now the "Where's my refund" says they have no record of my return. All this women could tell me is it can take up to 3 weeks to process a return and if I don't receive it by the 16th then I can call back. This is just so frustrating, I understand it can take up to 3 weeks, then they shouldn't say you can get your refund in 7-10 days on turbo tax. Last year I filed on the 30th and had my refund by the 9th, thats how it should be.

I would recommend that you write this rant in a letter and send it to your congressman.

Congress has NEVER given the IRS a budget sufficient to fully computerize their system, let alone shift programming resources to respond to this kind of problem in a timely fashion.

Congress is the entity that pressures the IRS into releasing refunds in January even when 80% of the returns filed that money look funny. With ID theft, congress should have told the IRS to hold off on ALL refunds until each W-2 or 1098-T posted and the amounts matched the totals claimed on the tax return being processed. This is something a computer program could have been written to do, but they didn't.

No, the government decided that some poor people needed their refunds sooner rather than later, opened the floodgates and let the IRS deal with an estimated 1 million fraudulent returns. Even where it's obvious that the first return is fraud (and the money was never refunded), the legitmate taxpayer who files second must wait on a manual system where a human visually reviews both returns and signs off on them. The IRS wasn't even done processing all of the 2010 complaints when this season started.

They are not "holding your money hostage", they are ensuring that the refund the money correctly. If the delay is the fault of the IRS, they do indeed pay interest but only on the time after 90 days I think. But I am not certain. And going forward, have less withheld. That way, you will owe at tax time and will not have given the government an interest-free loan.

And calm down.

Whether you get interest depends on the reason for the delay, and its length. With identity theft, you'll likely get interest. But no you can't sue the IRS. And the delay isn't the IRS's fault - it's the fault of the person who stole your identity.

There's no point in seeking legal advice - will just cost you money to get the same answers. You could call the taxpayer advocate http://www.irs.gov/uac/Taxpayer-Advocate-Service-6 but unless something is just stalled, not much they can do either.

Unfortunately, identity theft can be very difficult to unravel and can take months or even over a year.

Good luck.

There are plenty of people in the comments section of this blog post who are in the same situation as you. Most are still waiting or just now starting to get their money back. So frustrating as it is, your case is hardly exceptional.

Also, suing the IRS is not the right way to go. They are only doing their job. Your best option is probably to contact your local Taxpayer Advocate. They can help people like you who are having a hard time dealing with the IRS.

You should settle down now and calm down it is NOT the IRS that stole your identity and has caused you to have all of your above mentioned problems at this time in your life. The taxpayer that did steal it is the one that you should be blaming for all of your problems that you are having NOW at this time in your life.

The Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) is an independent organization within the IRS that helps taxpayers who are experiencing unresolved federal tax problems. Here are 10 things every taxpayer should know about TAS:

1. The Taxpayer Advocate Service is your voice at the IRS.

2. TAS assistance is free and tailored to meet your needs.

3. You may be eligible for TAS help if you’ve tried to resolve your tax problem through normal IRS channels and have gotten nowhere, or if you are facing (or your business is facing) an immediate action from the IRS that will adversely affect you.

4. The worst thing you can do is nothing at all!

5. TAS helps individual and business taxpayers whose tax problems are causing financial difficulty, which could include the cost of hiring professional representation, such as a tax attorney.

6. If you qualify for TAS help, you’ll be assigned one advocate who will do everything possible to get your problem resolved.

7. There is at least one local Taxpayer Advocate office in every state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. You can obtain the number of your local Taxpayer Advocate from your local phone book, in Pub. 1546, Taxpayer Advocate Service – Your Voice at the IRS and on the IRS website at IRS.gov/advocate. You can also call TAS toll-free at 1-877-777-4778.

8. As a taxpayer, you have rights that the IRS must abide by when working with you. Our tax toolkit website at www.TaxpayerAdvocate.irs.gov can help you understand these rights.

9. TAS also handles tax problems that may have a broad impact on more than just one taxpayer. You can report these "systemic" issues to TAS through the Systemic Advocacy Management System at IRS.gov/advocate.

10. You can get updates on hot tax topics by visiting the TAS YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/TASNTA and the TAS Facebook page at www.facebook.com/YourVoiceAtIRS, or by following TAS tweets at www.twitter.com/YourVoiceatIRS.

Hope that you find the above enclosed information useful. 09/14/2012

I would suggest writing BOTH your congressman AND the TAS. Why? Because the IRS takes congressional letters very seriously and has to respond to them from the higher ranks of management, and very quickly at that. Getting the TAS also involved in the beginning will help move it along while your congressman is drafting his letter to the IRS, as TAS cases are also expedited.

identity theft can take many months, even years, it is not an easy problem to solve

and yes, if you are due a refund and is not paid by June 30, it accrues interest and when you eventually get your check it will be included

and the interest it earns will be reported on a 1099 I which will be claimed as income next year(or the year you receive it)

Can I Sue The Irs