{"id":22133,"date":"2016-11-15T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-11-15T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/millions-of-taxpayers-face-refund-delays-in-2017\/"},"modified":"2023-03-01T13:54:04","modified_gmt":"2023-03-01T19:54:04","slug":"what-to-do-if-you-face-a-tax-refund-delay","status":"publish","type":"newsroom","link":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/irs\/tax-law-and-policy\/what-to-do-if-you-face-a-tax-refund-delay\/","title":{"rendered":"Millions of taxpayers face refund delays in 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

New tax law requires the IRS to hold some refunds until February 15<\/h2>\n

As many as 15 million taxpayers could have their refunds delayed until at least February 15 next year, according to an analysis by H&R Block (NYSE: HRB), a leading consumer tax preparation company. The Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act now requires the IRS to hold refunds for returns claiming the earned income tax credit (EITC) and additional child tax credit (ACTC) until February 15. Approximately 30 million taxpayers claim the EITC or ACTC, with half filing early.<\/p>\n

\u201cTaxpayers should file as they normally would, even if they expect their refund will be delayed,\u201d said Kathy Pickering, executive director of\u00a0The Tax Institute<\/a>\u00a0at H&R Block. \u201cThe IRS still expects to issue most refunds in less than 21 days, although the IRS will hold refunds for EITC and ACTC-related tax returns filed early in 2017 until February 15 and then begin issuing them.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the IRS will release those refunds on February 15 many taxpayers may not see the funds deposit into their banking accounts for a few days afterward. This additional delay could be for many reasons and it is best for taxpayers to check the IRS\u2019s\u00a0Where\u2019s My Refund\u00a0website for any funding updates.<\/p>\n

Delay helps IRS combat tax identity fraud<\/h2>\n

The\u00a0EITC received nationwide<\/a>\u00a0averaged approximately $2,500 per eligible taxpayer last year. While $65.6 billion was paid out last year, the IRS indicates that approximately one in five payments are made in error, either through fraudulent filing or confusion due to complexity in claiming the benefit. These credits are\u00a0target rich for tax identity thieves and fraudsters<\/a>. In fact, the\u00a0EITC has one of the highest improper payment rates<\/a>\u00a0of the 16 \u201chigh-error\u201d programs identified by the government.<\/p>\n

Holding taxpayer refunds until February 15, along with the mandate that employers send employee W-2s to the IRS by January 31, allows the IRS additional time to help prevent revenue lost due to identity theft and refund fraud related to fabricated wages and withholdings.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is important for taxpayers who claim these benefits to plan now for the delay,\u201d Pickering said. \u201cVisiting with a tax professional now can help them better understand the overall impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

Delays just one part of tax law changes<\/h2>\n

The PATH Act made dozens of changes to the tax code, including\u00a0permanently extending many tax benefits<\/a>,\u00a0implementing renewal requirements for Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs)<\/a>,\u00a0changing eligibility requirements for certain tax credits<\/a>,\u00a0expanding other tax benefits<\/a>,\u00a0increasing the cost of making mistakes<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0altering small business tax benefits<\/a>. But its delay of millions of refunds until at least February 15 will be widely felt by early filers who in the past could expect a refund which\u00a0averaged more than $3,500 in 2015<\/a>\u00a0by late January.<\/p>\n

To learn more about tax law changes and refund delays due to the PATH Act, taxpayers can visit\u00a0www.hrblock.com\/path<\/a>. They can also\u00a0make an appointment with a tax professional online<\/a>\u00a0or call 1-800-HRBLOCK.<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

About H&R Block<\/h3>\n

H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE: HRB) is a global consumer tax services provider. Tax return preparation services are provided by professional tax preparers in approximately 12,000 company-owned and franchise retail tax offices worldwide, and through H&R Block tax software products for the DIY consumer. H&R Block also offers adjacent Tax Plus products and services. In fiscal 2016, H&R Block had annual revenues of over $3 billion with 23.2 million tax returns prepared worldwide. For more information, visit the H&R Block Newsroom at\u00a0https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New tax law requires the IRS to hold some refunds until February 15 As many as 15 million taxpayers could have their refunds delayed until at least February 15 next year, according to an analysis by H&R Block (NYSE: HRB), a leading consumer tax preparation company. The Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act now […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26868,"menu_order":0,"template":"","tags":[7320],"news-categories":[23363,23371],"class_list":["post-22133","newsroom","type-newsroom","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-path-act","news-categories-irs","news-categories-tax-law-and-policy"],"acf":{"post_rest_thumbnail_alt_id":null},"yoast_head":"What to do if you face a tax refund delay | H&R Block Newsroom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A new tax law requires the IRS to hold entire refunds of millions of taxpayers until at least Feb. 15.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/irs\/tax-law-and-policy\/what-to-do-if-you-face-a-tax-refund-delay\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Millions of taxpayers face refund delays in 2017\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A new tax law requires the IRS to hold entire refunds of millions of taxpayers until at least Feb. 15.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/irs\/tax-law-and-policy\/what-to-do-if-you-face-a-tax-refund-delay\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"H&R Block\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hrblock\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-01T19:54:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/HRB-TIC-DefaultImages-1080x675-_IRS3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@hrblock\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/newsroom\\\/irs\\\/tax-law-and-policy\\\/what-to-do-if-you-face-a-tax-refund-delay\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/newsroom\\\/irs\\\/tax-law-and-policy\\\/what-to-do-if-you-face-a-tax-refund-delay\\\/\",\"name\":\"What to do if you face a tax refund delay | H&R Block Newsroom\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/newsroom\\\/irs\\\/tax-law-and-policy\\\/what-to-do-if-you-face-a-tax-refund-delay\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/newsroom\\\/irs\\\/tax-law-and-policy\\\/what-to-do-if-you-face-a-tax-refund-delay\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/HRB-TIC-DefaultImages-1080x675-_IRS3.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-11-15T07:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-01T19:54:04+00:00\",\"description\":\"A new tax law requires the IRS to hold entire refunds of millions of taxpayers until at least Feb. 15.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/newsroom\\\/irs\\\/tax-law-and-policy\\\/what-to-do-if-you-face-a-tax-refund-delay\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/newsroom\\\/irs\\\/tax-law-and-policy\\\/what-to-do-if-you-face-a-tax-refund-delay\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/newsroom\\\/irs\\\/tax-law-and-policy\\\/what-to-do-if-you-face-a-tax-refund-delay\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/HRB-TIC-DefaultImages-1080x675-_IRS3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/HRB-TIC-DefaultImages-1080x675-_IRS3.jpg\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":675},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/newsroom\\\/irs\\\/tax-law-and-policy\\\/what-to-do-if-you-face-a-tax-refund-delay\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Newsroom Articles\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/newsroom\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Millions of taxpayers face refund delays in 2017\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"H&R Block\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What to do if you face a tax refund delay | H&R Block Newsroom","description":"A new tax law requires the IRS to hold entire refunds of millions of taxpayers until at least Feb. 15.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/irs\/tax-law-and-policy\/what-to-do-if-you-face-a-tax-refund-delay\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Millions of taxpayers face refund delays in 2017","og_description":"A new tax law requires the IRS to hold entire refunds of millions of taxpayers until at least Feb. 15.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/irs\/tax-law-and-policy\/what-to-do-if-you-face-a-tax-refund-delay\/","og_site_name":"H&R Block","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hrblock","article_modified_time":"2023-03-01T19:54:04+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/HRB-TIC-DefaultImages-1080x675-_IRS3.jpg","width":1080,"height":675,"type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@hrblock","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/irs\/tax-law-and-policy\/what-to-do-if-you-face-a-tax-refund-delay\/","url":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/irs\/tax-law-and-policy\/what-to-do-if-you-face-a-tax-refund-delay\/","name":"What to do if you face a tax refund delay | H&R Block Newsroom","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/irs\/tax-law-and-policy\/what-to-do-if-you-face-a-tax-refund-delay\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/irs\/tax-law-and-policy\/what-to-do-if-you-face-a-tax-refund-delay\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/HRB-TIC-DefaultImages-1080x675-_IRS3.jpg","datePublished":"2016-11-15T07:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-03-01T19:54:04+00:00","description":"A new tax law requires the IRS to hold entire refunds of millions of taxpayers until at least Feb. 15.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/irs\/tax-law-and-policy\/what-to-do-if-you-face-a-tax-refund-delay\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/irs\/tax-law-and-policy\/what-to-do-if-you-face-a-tax-refund-delay\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/irs\/tax-law-and-policy\/what-to-do-if-you-face-a-tax-refund-delay\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/HRB-TIC-DefaultImages-1080x675-_IRS3.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/HRB-TIC-DefaultImages-1080x675-_IRS3.jpg","width":1080,"height":675},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/irs\/tax-law-and-policy\/what-to-do-if-you-face-a-tax-refund-delay\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Newsroom Articles","item":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Millions of taxpayers face refund delays in 2017"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/","name":"H&R Block","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newsroom\/22133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newsroom"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/newsroom"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newsroom\/22133\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22133"},{"taxonomy":"news-categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-categories?post=22133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}