5 reasons why your tax refund may be delayed

It’s a new year, but many of the same old problems remain when it comes to tax filing.

A month after the IRS started processing returns, complaints are already coming in about late refunds.

Heather Niehaus is a busy mom of a 2-year-old girl, and every dollar counts at her home.

So she filed her taxes as soon as she could this year.

“I was an early filer,” she said. “I filed online at the end of January as soon as I got my W2.”

But a month and a half later, she hasn’t seen anything yet.

The IRS got a late start processing returns this year due to the early January stimulus checks and did not start taking returns until February.

Here are also 5 more excuses the agency is giving:

1. It turns out that many of the pandemic staffing issues that hit the IRS hard last year are still not resolved; pandemic-related staffing shortages remain, and employees are still working from home.

2. With another round of stimulus checks now being sent, the agency is again being flooded by thousands of daily phone calls. So the IRS is trying to juggle multiple jobs at once.

3. The IRS reports continued mail delays, and leftover returns from last year still tying up the IRS computer systems.

4. If you claimed a stimulus check (either $1,200 or $600), the IRS needs to take an extra look at your return, to make sure you are not “double dipping” and getting that stimulus twice. That can add a few weeks to your refund.

5. If you collected unemployment benefits, the IRS must have a state report on how much you received. The agency says some of those state reports are late.

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