tax refunds

Dear Liz: I read your advice about what to do when a refund is delayed. We overpaid our 2025 federal taxes by $16,200. It was the first year my husband was retired and we wanted to make sure enough tax was withheld from his pension.

Our professionally prepared, e-filed return should have been very simple. Yet, like your letter writer, we were at first asked to confirm our identity, then on June 1 we were told to wait two more months, and since then we’ve heard nothing.

My husband was able to get through on the phone. They apologized for “ghosting us” and told us to wait until early November, because they are investigating “income and withholdings.” Yeah, right. The Taxpayer Advocate Service did not want our case because we cannot prove a severe enough financial hardship, but this is affecting our budget. Any suggestions? Our congressman’s office never returned our message.

Answer: Try one of your U.S. senators. Like congressional representatives, they have constituent services teams dedicated to helping people resolve problems with federal agencies.

The IRS asked you to verify your identity because something about your return raised concerns about possible fraud. Your personal information may have been exposed in a data breach, your return may have differed substantially from previous years or someone else may have filed a return using your Social Security number. It’s also possible your return was simply selected for additional review.

Once you verified your identity, though, your refund should have been processed. Yours has gotten stuck in the agency’s gears somewhere, so it’s time to get help (and maybe cast a vote against your current representative in November’s election).