Tax season is officially over, and the last round of stimulus checks is in the past. But many taxpayers are still waiting on their checks to arrive as a result of identity fraud crossfire. Independent financial planner Rob De Lessio of Strategic Wealth Designers joined us on the newscast to discuss why these delays are occurring. See more financial news at [ Ссылка ].
“Last year the IRS flagged nearly 2 million tax returns for potential identity theft,” De Lessio says. “The IRS wants to make sure that someone isn’t wrongly using a taxpayer’s identity to get money in the form of a tax refund. This means the IRS won’t issue a refund until they can verify the identity.”
Some taxpayers wait months to receive their money. Roughly 18% of flagged returns took over 120 days for a tax return to arrive. On top of the inconvenience of the delays, they may impact taxpayers more than an average year as the IRS will use 2020 tax returns to determine eligibility for the child tax credit set to begin in July.
“Unfortunately, under staffing and insufficient resources are making delays even longer,” De Lessio says. “Many people end up talking to an IRS agent over the phone or in an office, and the IRS is understaffed. Improved technology could improve the process.”
The IRS will work with taxpayers regardless of time passed despite fraud letters request response within 30 days. To see additional stories surrounding business and economic news for the Cincinnati area, visit [ Ссылка ] and if you have a question for Rob send an email to info@swdgroup.com.
