As tax season heads towards the home stretch, hundreds of thousands of taxpayer refunds have been delayed.
While taxpayers expected minor glitches associated with a late start to the tax season, the magnitude of the delays, especially those involving the form 8863 for education credits, took the tax world by storm. Angry taxpayers have been complaining about unusually long wait times and, perhaps most frustrating, a complete lack of information about the delays and the next steps. The form was delayed for processing initially by two weeks, a wait time that Forbes writer Janet Novack suggested could have been avoided.
Last year, the IRS opened tax season early, on January 6, 2012, and accepted e-filed returns as early as January 17, 2012. Since April 15, 2012, happened to fall on a Sunday and Emancipation Day in Washington D.C. was marked on April 16, 2012, tax season was pushed all the way out to April 17, 2012. Adding yet another day? It was a leap year. The result? An embarrassment of filing riches. The tax season was officially open for 102 days (the season for e-filing was open for 91 days).
Contrast that to 2013. The tax season didn’t open until January 30, 2013. No leap year, no holiday. The due date for returns remains April 15, 2013. The result? The tax season is open for 75 days. The same number of returns (more or less). About 75% of the available time.
Once tax season opened, almost immediately, the IRS noticed problems with some tax returns claiming education credits and issued a series of alerts. The problem didn’t get better, however, and taxpayers continued to report problems with the credits. Most of those problems appeared to be related to returns filed with H&R Block. H&R Block, for its part, remained quiet throughout much of the controversy, offering statements and updates to taxpayers on its Facebook page. This weekend, H&R Block CEO Bill Cobb issued the following apology:
Let me set the record straight about the Form 8863 issue that has affected you, our valued clients: we made a mistake when the tax return was sent to the IRS. And you deserve an apology, an explanation, and to know what we’re doing about it.
Here’s what happened: this year’s tax season started later than any in history (January 30th), followed by a further delay in form 8863 not being accepted until February 14. Not good for everyone. When the IRS began accepting the form, we immediately sent your returns, with the intention of getting you your refund as quickly as possible. In our zeal to move so quickly, we missed a step. Specifically there was a disconnect in the transmission of form 8863 from our delivery system to the IRS E-file system, and this caused the delay many of you are experiencing. We fixed the transmission issue right away, but couldn’t undo it for those that had already been sent.
I want to make it clear that this was absolutely not the fault of your tax professional; your return was prepared accurately. This was an issue with the form transmission. This was our mistake — and I sincerely apologize. I want you to know that we hear the frustration of those impacted by this issue loud and clear, and we’re working every avenue we can to get your refund to you as fast as possible.
We have been and remain in daily communication with the IRS, who are doing everything they can to speedily process all returns. We know that clients are beginning to see progress, funding dates are being communicated and refunds are definitely being funded. But we also recognize that in an already delayed season, it’s still not as fast as we want, and we’re not letting up until every client has his or her refund.
We are also committing to more frequent and regular updates with you as we have news to share, and we know we can do a better job here too.
Finally, I know an apology won’t put your tax refund in your hands right away, and many of you still have questions. But right now, our singular focus is to get you that refund, and we have all hands on deck to help make this right.
So, no update, but an apology. Will it be enough to satisfy taxpayers? You tell me.
