The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory tax law.
- Welcome to the IRS. Live telephone assistance is not available at this time. Normal operations will resume as soon as possible
- We thank the Treasury and IRS employees who have been working diligently to ensure the system is processing these returns efficiently
- More than 9 out of 10 refunds are issued in less than 21 days
- The Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020, enacted December 27, 2020, made a number of changes to the employee retention tax credits previously made available under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), including modifying and extending the Employee Retention Credit (ERC), for six months through June 30, 2021. Several of the changes apply only to 2021, while others apply to both 2020 and 2021.
- As a result of the new legislation, eligible employers can now claim a refundable tax credit against the employer share of Social Security tax equal to 70% of the qualified wages they pay to employees after December 31, 2020, through June 30, 2021. Qualified wages are limited to $10,000 per employee per calendar quarter in 2021. Thus, the maximum ERC amount available is $7,000 per employee per calendar quarter, for a total of $14,000 in 2021.
- Employers can access the ERC for the 1st and 2nd quarters of 2021 prior to filing their employment tax returns by reducing employment tax deposits. Small employers (i.e., employers with an average of 500 or fewer full-time employees in 2019) may request advance payment of the credit (subject to certain limits) on Form 7200, Advance of Employer Credits Due to Covid-19, after reducing deposits. In 2021, advances are not available for employers larger than this.
- When Should You Call the IRS?
- You should call us only if
- It’s been 21 days or more since you e-filed
- Where’s My Refund tells you to contact us
- We’ll contact you by mail if we need more information to process your return.
- Expect delays if you mailed a paper return or responded to an IRS inquiry about your 2020 return.
- Some tax returns take longer to process than others, including when a return:
- Needs a correction to the Recovery Rebate Credit amount
- Needs a correction to the Child Tax Credit amount
- Is incomplete
- Is affected by identity theft or fraud
- Includes a claim filed for an Earned Income Tax Credit or an Additional Child Tax Credit using 2019 income.
- Includes a Form 8379, Injured Spouse Allocation PDF, which could take up to 14 weeks to process
- Needs further review in general
- It’s taking us more than 21 days (and up to 90 to 120 days) to issue refunds for tax returns with the Recovery Rebate Credit, Earned Income Tax Credit and Additional Child Tax Credit.
- Don’t file a second tax return. If you're due a refund from your tax return, you should wait to get it before filing Form 1040-X to amend your original tax return.
- The question must be answered by all taxpayers, not just taxpayers who engaged in a transaction involving virtual currency. Do not leave this field blank
Quotes about the IRS
[edit]- Refunds have been a source of abuse recently, but we need to make sure taxpayers have proper due process when the IRS decides to freeze a refund. [Taxpayers] can't effectively challenge the IRS' actions.
- I’m actually very confident that they’re going to be able to identify that type of talent and bring that talent in the door. Because this is going to be an IRS that for the first time in its history actually has the tools that it needs to fight this David and Goliath tax battle against wealthy tax evaders and large corporations.
