If the IRS takes back taxes out of your current return how long will that delay my refund?
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 at
4:50 am
I owe federal and state taxes from last year and my CPA said the IRS would take that money out of this years tax return, which is fine. My question is how long will that delay me getting whatever refund is left over? I usually get my check within about a week of filing. Thanks.
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Your accountant will be able to include that in your tax calculations for 2009.
Line 59 of your 1040 form allows for the addition of the "Additional other taxes worksheet" which can include back taxes from tax year 2008.
The Federal offset usually does not cause any delay since the IRS pulls the money before sending your refund to FMS for payment. The state offset may cause a delay because FMS has to verify the debt first. If your state drags its feet in responding it could delay your refund up to 30 days.
The IRS offsets as much of a refund as is needed to pay off overdue taxes owed by taxpayers and notifies them when this occurs. The Financial Management Service (FMS) offsets taxpayers’ refunds through the Treasury Offset Program (TOP) to pay off past-due child support, federal agency non-tax debts such as student loans and state income tax obligations. Offsets to non-tax debts occur after the IRS has certified the refunds to FMS for payment but before FMS makes the Direct Deposits or issues the paper checks. Refund offsets reduce the amount of the expected Direct Deposit or paper check but they do not delay the issuance of the remaining refund (if any) after offset. If taxpayers owe non-tax debts they may contact the agency they owe, prior to filing their returns, to determine if the agency submitted their debts for refund offset. If the IRS determines at time the taxpayer files the return it will offset the refund, it provides a Debt Indicator on the Acknowledgement File. FMS sends taxpayers offset notices if it applies any part of their refund to non-tax debts. Taxpayers should contact the agencies identified in the FMS offset notice when offsets occur if they dispute the non-tax debts or have questions about the offsets. If taxpayers need further clarification, they may call the Treasury Offset Program Call Center at (800) 304-3107. If a refund is in a joint name but only one spouse owed the debt, the "injured spouse" should file Form 8379, Injured Spouse Allocation.