Tag: IRS

It's tax season and social media is abuzz with tax related information. This includes news related to refund payments, which millions of Americans are anxiously waiting to get. Unfortunately this also creates an environment of false information (fake news!), deceitful ideas, and outright scams around refund payments and getting them…

Your refund finally hits "Refund Sent" on WMR or IRS2Go, code 846 shows up on your transcript with a payment date — and then the deposit lands smaller than the refund you filed for. No warning, no explanation on the payment itself. This surprises thousands of filers every season. Here's…

"Maximize your tax refund" gets searched every filing season, but it's worth being precise about what that actually means. A refund is just the IRS returning money you already overpaid through paycheck withholding or estimated payments — getting a bigger one isn't really a win if it means you gave…

If you sell on eBay or Etsy, drive for a rideshare app, or get paid through PayPal or Venmo, the 1099-K rules that caused years of confusion are finally settled — and in your favor. Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), payment platforms only send you (and the…

With millions of tax filers anxiously waiting for their refund — often the largest single payment they receive all year — it's not uncommon to hear frustration with the IRS systems designed to provide updates on tax processing and refund payments. The official Where's My Refund (WMR) site and IRS2Go…

If you claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) or Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) and filed early, your refund is being held by law — not because anything is wrong with your return. The Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act requires the IRS to hold your entire refund,…

Reviewing your free IRS tax transcript is a technique a lot of filers use to get an update on their return processing and refund status, particularly when Where's My Refund (WMR) or the IRS2Go app isn't showing much beyond "still processing." While the IRS's official line is that a tax…

The Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) is an independent organization within the IRS that helps filers with tax problems they can't resolve through normal channels, or who've exhausted standard IRS contact options without a real answer. Every state has at least one local TAS office, independent of the regular IRS office.…

Every year I get the same handful of questions from readers gearing up for the next filing season: when can I file, how do I file for free, how much will I get back, and why does the IRS take so long to pay it. This year's answers lean forward…

If your refund feels smaller than you expected, you're not imagining it being out of step with the news — average refunds are actually up this filing season, which can make an unchanged or lower refund of your own feel especially confusing. Nationally, the average federal refund reached $3,397 as…

If you're self-employed and not taking full advantage of a SEP IRA or Solo 401(k), you're likely leaving a significant amount of tax-deferred savings on the table every year. I've talked to a lot of freelancers and small business owners over the years who are diligently contributing to a regular…

Getting through to a live IRS agent has always been a battle, and 2026 hasn't made it easier. Ongoing staffing cuts — accelerated by DOGE-related reductions earlier in the year — have continued to shrink the IRS workforce. At the same time, the IRS is actively pushing taxpayers toward digital…

You filed on time, got the "return accepted" confirmation, and settled in for the standard three-week wait. It's now been well past 21 days, Where's My Refund (WMR) hasn't budged, and you're wondering where your money is. In 2026, the single most common reason for this exact pattern is an…