JCMSr
02-09-2021, 01:15 PM
In early January my wife received her 2nd COVID-19 stimulus in the form of a manual check from the US Treasury Department which came as somewhat of a surprise since the previous payments had been handled via direct deposit. To date, I have yet to receive my 2nd payment and have been unable to get any reasonable explanation until today. Checking the IRS website daily only tells me that either (1) they don't have enough information yet or (2) I am not eligible. Since I am 100% certain that I am eligible what information could they possibly be missing? After weeks of looking at the same reply on their website, today I finally decided to try to get to the bottom of this issue and called the toll free number (800/919-9835) that IRS provided for questions related only to the COVID-19 Stimulus checks. The first agent I spoke with was very knowledgeable and helpful but what I found out was shocking. According to my records our 2019 Federal Tax Return which was filed in July 2019 had been placed on hold pending “ID verification”. I was asked if I had received any correspondence to this effect and explained that, yes I received a letter from the IRS confirming receipt of my tax returns and asking me to “go online” to provide additional verification. This was done the day I received the letter, however, due to what was called “some glitches” in their system and minimal staffing due to the lockdowns during the prior months this information had apparently never been updated. So, basically ….. no 2019 tax return ….. no 2nd stimulus check! Ok, then why did my wife receive a check since we have been filing joint tax returns for 40+ years! No explanation other than the fact that her social security number was not the primary taxpayer number on the return. So no tax return equals stimulus payment but a documented/filed return said to need verification makes the entire process come to a complete stop? Oh, and by the way, there was not even a refund involved in the returns filed for 2019! Who would go to the trouble to file a tax return without scoring some type of monetary reward! Talk about dumb crook news!
Anyway, after explaining the reason for the delay in receiving my check I was next transferred to the Taxpayer Protection Program Department but not before being disconnected twice in the process and waiting on hold for in excess of 30 minutes. Once I was finally able to speak with an agent and answer their multiple questions to confirm the tax return was legitimate, I was told our 2019 Federal Tax Return would now be released for “processing” which could take up to an additional 9 weeks! By the way, the entire verification process consisted of answering questions which were already answered on the tax return forms. They might have asked for my mother’s maiden name but everything else I answered by looking at my saved copy of the tax return. In the end, the process for filing for a Recovery Rebate Credit on my 2020 Federal Tax Return was explained to me and I was assured that the lack of the 2019 return would not affect the processing of my stimulus payment. Somehow, I have a hard time believing that after how bad things have been screwed up to date so don’t blame me for not stimulating the economy any time soon.
Prior to terminating this call I requested a written confirmation that the verification process had been completed and that the tax return was now finally being processed. I was told that I would only receive a confirmation after the tax return had been processed in approximately nine weeks. I explained that since they had been essentially sitting on this return for over six months with zero notifications to us and I only found out about the problem due to my inquiries into the stimulus payments, I wanted some assurances that after nine weeks I would not be starting the process all over again. Unfortunately, their system does not provide a way to provide any written notifications! What a bunch of bull and welcome to the new and improved, taxpayer friendly IRS!
Anyway, after explaining the reason for the delay in receiving my check I was next transferred to the Taxpayer Protection Program Department but not before being disconnected twice in the process and waiting on hold for in excess of 30 minutes. Once I was finally able to speak with an agent and answer their multiple questions to confirm the tax return was legitimate, I was told our 2019 Federal Tax Return would now be released for “processing” which could take up to an additional 9 weeks! By the way, the entire verification process consisted of answering questions which were already answered on the tax return forms. They might have asked for my mother’s maiden name but everything else I answered by looking at my saved copy of the tax return. In the end, the process for filing for a Recovery Rebate Credit on my 2020 Federal Tax Return was explained to me and I was assured that the lack of the 2019 return would not affect the processing of my stimulus payment. Somehow, I have a hard time believing that after how bad things have been screwed up to date so don’t blame me for not stimulating the economy any time soon.
Prior to terminating this call I requested a written confirmation that the verification process had been completed and that the tax return was now finally being processed. I was told that I would only receive a confirmation after the tax return had been processed in approximately nine weeks. I explained that since they had been essentially sitting on this return for over six months with zero notifications to us and I only found out about the problem due to my inquiries into the stimulus payments, I wanted some assurances that after nine weeks I would not be starting the process all over again. Unfortunately, their system does not provide a way to provide any written notifications! What a bunch of bull and welcome to the new and improved, taxpayer friendly IRS!