FEDERAL REFUNDS

[GeorgeM]

Hard to beleive but federal refunds and very early this year.

I e-filed on 1/31 rec ack on 1/31 rec direct dep 2/10 early AM

Has anyone else seen this happen yet?

[KINGCHUCK1971]

Yes George,

So far the IRS are on top of their game. My clients are very happy with the quick turn around with their refunds.

[Jack from Ohio]

I am of the opinion that these stories will not be the majority. I have not had any clients report back to me yet, more as the season unfolds.

[Pacun]

It seems that the IRS wants to kiss good bye to RALs. I don't offer any RALs so I am happy that people are getting refunds quickly. My clients also reported that they got their money already.

[windmill]

To George M

Yes. efiled last Monday, deposited today.

[jklcpa]

Yes, I had one too. Return filed on the evening of 2/4, refund is supposed to be DD tomorrow, 2/11. I have 2 other early clients with large refunds expected but haven't checked on those personally.

[taxxcpa]

One problem with giving those refunds so quickly is that, in many cases, the IRS has not received the W-2 and other withholding information from which the refund is based. This permits identity thieves to "borrow" your SSN and file a return showing lots of tax withheld by employers whose EINs the thief has also "borrowed" for his scheme.

This is a growing problem. Something needs to be done,.

[David1980]

One problem with giving those refunds so quickly is that, in many cases, the IRS has not received the W-2 and other withholding information from which the refund is based. This permits identity thieves to "borrow" your SSN and file a return showing lots of tax withheld by employers whose EINs the thief has also "borrowed" for his scheme.

This is a growing problem. Something needs to be done,.

They don't do the W-2 matching until much later in the year. Even if they did, I don't think it'd make much of a difference in identity theft. Forms 4136, 8863, schedule c, household wages on line 7 of 1040 (I love that one - earned income for EIC without the SE tax!), 8812 with a bunch of nephews/nieces. Lots of way to get big refunds without using withholding from a W-2.

[KINGCHUCK1971]

They don't do the W-2 matching until much later in the year. Even if they did, I don't think it'd make much of a difference in identity theft. Forms 4136, 8863, schedule c, household wages on line 7 of 1040 (I love that one - earned income for EIC without the SE tax!), 8812 with a bunch of nephews/nieces. Lots of way to get big refunds without using withholding from a W-2.

Without a doubt we need a overhaul on this feeling entitled system. It's costing the taxpayers monies we can spend elsewhere. I've had potential clients who actually get upset that I wouldn't take them on as a client. Some claim to be self employed and don't know jack about their so called business. But they can tell you how much EIC their supposed to receive for each child. Really!

[Richcpaman]

They don't do the W-2 matching until much later in the year. Even if they did, I don't think it'd make much of a difference in identity theft. Forms 4136, 8863, schedule c, household wages on line 7 of 1040 (I love that one - earned income for EIC without the SE tax!), 8812 with a bunch of nephews/nieces. Lots of way to get big refunds without using withholding from a W-2.

And this is the reason I think the IRS should slow down ALL refunds. The bad guys KNOW the system can't keep up, so they file.

The IRS has contracted with some data aggregators to start spot checking information on returns, so that they can confirm that maybe the return is bogus. They need to ramp this process up.

And then hopefully, stop some of this fraud. An extra week or so from filing to refund will not hurt anyone. Prior to Efiling, you could wait 6-8 weeks for your check. Now it is down to a week to 10 days? But the fraud is over 4-5 Billon a year? Yeah, we can slow things down...

Rich

[Hillenburg]

Mo. state refund Feb. 4th. Unbelievable.