Checking The Status of Your Tax Refund
by Rich Chappo
Well, you survived the tax deadline this year. Many people had to pay money to the IRS, but just as many had a refund do. If you fall in this group, you might be wondering when your tax refund is going to come.
In truth, a tax refund is not a good thing. Yes, you read that correctly. How could it be a bad thing? If you get a tax refund year after year, then there is a problem with the amount of money you are paying in. This is especially true if the refunds are large.
Imagine overpaying your car payments by $500 dollars a year and then getting a refund at the end of the year. Think that is smart? Well, it is exactly what you are doing when you overpay your taxes. If this sounds smart, I would like to borrow some money from you.
Okay, enough about that. You are due a tax refund and want to know when it is going to show up. Do you have to call the IRS? Nope. Despite its reputation for having technology from the stone age, the IRS has a great website you can use for this purpose.
To find out the status of your tax refund, the easiest method is to visit the IRS site. Just do a search for it. Once there, you want to click on the link that says where's my refund? It is on the home page and prominently displayed.
Now, you need to get out your tax return. Yes, the one you just filed and should have made a copy of. You need it because the IRS form will ask for the amount of the refund you are claiming, the filing status you claimed and your social security number.
As you can see, the form is incredibly simple. Just fill in the information, click and wait for an answer. You will be told the refund date, that there was a problem delivering it to you or there is a problem with the return you filed and the refund is delayed.
Obviously, this final answer may cause most people to faint at their computer. Don't. It is not necessarily an indication of impending doom, to wit, and audit. You may just have forgotten to fill in a necessary box or the computer may have had a problem with the form.
In a worse case scenario, notification of a problem with your tax return could mean an audit. Even then, the world may not end. Most audits now consist of letters being sent to you proposing a change to your return. You can usually clear it up by sending a letter.
A tax refund is glorious thing in the view of most people. There is nothing wrong with that view so long as you realize the feds are getting a free loan from you each year. Giving politicians free loans seems dubious to me, but to each their own.
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