IRS erroneously delayed 27,500 tax refunds

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IRS erroneously delayed 27,500 tax refunds

http://www.freep.com/news/statewire/sw6695_20000218.htm

-- Homer Beanfang (Bats@inbellfry.com), February 18, 2000

Answers

IRS says erroneously delayed 27,500 tax refunds

February 18, 2000, 1:59 PM

CINCINNATI (AP) -- The Internal Revenue Service says it erroneously delayed sending out 27,500 tax refunds but has fixed the glitch and expects to issue them by the end of next week.

The problem involved both electronically filed tax returns and the traditional paper variety, said Carolee Pfefferman, a spokeswoman for the IRS district office in Cincinnati. The office serves Michigan.

"Due to a processing problem of some type, these refunds were erroneously frozen," she said Friday.

Pfefferman said she did not have information about the total amount of the delayed refunds, or about how long they had been held up. The agency had informed some tax preparers of the problem, she said.

The IRS sometimes delays issuing a refund while the agency determines whether the intended recipient still owes prior debts, such as unpaid taxes or child support. But in this case, the 27,500 refunds were mistakenly frozen, Pfefferman said.

The problem occurred nationally, not just in the Cincinnati district, she said.

By the end of last week, the IRS had issued 16.5 million refunds. The average amount of the refunds was $1,963. Of those, more than 11 million were directly deposited by the IRS into taxpayers' bank accounts.

The direct deposits get refunds to taxpayers more quickly and save the government the time and expense of cutting and mailing checks, Pfefferman said.

-- Homer Beanfang (Bats@inbellfry.com), February 18, 2000.


Makes me wonder what, "...a processing problem of some type..." is. Y2K, perchance?

-- No Polly (nopolly@hotmail.com), February 18, 2000.

Not Y2K, it was a divide by zero error. ;<>

-- mush (discovery@shields.up), February 18, 2000.

They sent back my paperwork today...the first time since I began filing over 40 years ago... they said I needed to fill out a form 8283 this year,...never had to before...but it seems they want it now... I suppose they are doing a lot of stuff to delay payoffs... (refunds!) It didn't take me long to fill out the form and run a hardcopy off for the attachment page needed ...but I has cost me a delay which makes me wonder how much of a ploy this move was to delay refunding? Curious move!

-- SB Ryan G III (sbrg3@juno.com), February 19, 2000.

are you sure it was erroneous, presumably this is BAU for the IRS

-- dick of the dale (richard.dale@unum.co.uk), February 21, 2000.


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