GREECE, N.Y. — A Greece woman has been waiting seven months for her federal tax refund and still has no answers from the IRS.
News10NBC is working to get answers for Bonnie Fletcher, who filed her tax return by mail in late February and is still waiting for her $4,594 refund. She planned to use the money to pay medical bills.
“Quite a bit. Quite a bit. It’s very frustrating,” Fletcher said about the financial impact.
Fletcher said she needed the refund to help pay for a medical procedure not covered by insurance and had to finance the cost. Her cat, Fred, also needed unexpected veterinary care.
“That was over $4,000. He had to be in the hospital for three nights,” Fletcher said.
Each time Fletcher checks the IRS website or hotline, she gets the same message.
“Your return has been received and it’s currently being processed,” Fletcher said.
“Thank you for calling the Internal Revenue Service. This is the, where’s my refund hotline,” a recording said.
“A refund date will be provided when available,” another recording said.
We reached out to the IRS but did not receive a response.
According to a report released in July by the General Accounting Office, 98 percent of the 177 million tax returns received this filing season have been processed. The report noted that mailed paper returns took longer to process—on average, 30 days—due to staffing shortages.
“If there’s a problem, there’s a hold up. And the hold up means that it’s no longer a question of their software machines. Instead, there has to be a human being. And there aren’t as many human beings at the IRS as there used to be,” Barbara Heggie said. Heggie is managing attorney at the Empire Justice Center’s Tax Advocacy Program.
Heggie said something as small as an incorrect spelling or bank account number can cause a delay. She pointed to the Taxpayer Advocate Service, an independent watchdog group at the IRS, as a possible source for help.
“Sometimes, if somebody is facing a particular kind of financial difficulty or health problem, and they have been waiting and trying to get through to normal IRS channels, the Taxpayer Advocate Service can kind of go around and figure out what is going on,” Heggie said.
At 77 and semi-retired, Fletcher is taking on extra hours at a part-time job to get by.
“Personally, I kind of feel like I just fell through the cracks. Like somebody just misfiled it—I don’t know,” Fletcher said.
News10NBC will continue to seek answers for Fletcher. For those dealing with delayed refunds, here are a few resources to help navigate the system:
Empire Justice Center: empirejustice.org/tax-advocacy/IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service: www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/
News10NBC Investigates: Greece woman waiting seven months for her tax refund can’t get IRS to explain why WHEC.com.
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