My son lived several different places in 2021, had income in multiple states, several different phone numbers, W-2's from several places, and hopefully no phantom 1099's that never found their way to him. He never received his stimulus check.

We filed his taxes the best we could, but it was basically mailing the return into a black hole. This was in February. We tried to set up an on-line IRS account, but they have multi-factor verification. Apparently they were unable to tie his face to his phone number, place of residence, etc. We couldn't create the account.

Does anybody know how we can check on the status of his return? Or if it even got there? Side note - he was also unable to use Turbotax. I don't know why, but he may have somehow jacked it up last year due to literacy issues. Anyway, that's why we had to mail it in.

www.irs.gov, click the "Where's my Return?" button. Or maybe it's called Refund Status. Need his SSN & approx date filed & amount.

Still looking for my youngest to get his return. Couldn't do electronically on any of the free sites, had to mail.

If your son wasn't the poster child for professional help I'm not sure who is. Any decent Enrolled Agent could have filed the return and tracked it for him, plus an EA can speak to the IRS on your behalf whereas now your son gets to respond himself. Daddy can't help.

I would try the "where's my refund" option first - its possible his return has been held for review. Most likely, though, it has not been processed yet.

You can call the IRS directly and ask if a return has been filed. If it has entered their system in any way, they can look it up and see what the status is. My only question mark is WHEN it would have entered the system.

also - request a tax transcript. It shows what all was sent to them from employers, so you can compare it to what you filed.

In the future, e-file all your returns. Mailing the IRS is no longer a trustworthy solution.

gigemhilo said:

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I would try the "where's my refund" option first - its possible his return has been held for review. Most likely, though, it has not been processed yet.

You can call the IRS directly and ask if a return has been filed. If it has entered their system in any way, they can look it up and see what the status is. My only question mark is WHEN it would have entered the system.

also - request a tax transcript. It shows what all was sent to them from employers, so you can compare it to what you filed.

In the future, e-file all your returns. Mailing the IRS is no longer a trustworthy solution.

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Thank you. I wanted to e-file, but TurboTax wouldn't let us, so I did print and file. I knew it would be a disaster.

I've had issues getting my return 3 out of the last 4 years, to no fault of our own but on the irs side. We had to have our accountant call the irs directly from an accountant only service line to the irs. To do this we had to sign a power of attorney over to him. My understanding is that there is no way for an individual citizen to contact the irs by phone. Good luck because this took 6-10 months to get resolved each time. Just got 2021 return in April 22. Those people really suck.

gigemhilo said:

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I would try the "where's my refund" option first - its possible his return has been held for review. Most likely, though, it has not been processed yet.

You can call the IRS directly and ask if a return has been filed. If it has entered their system in any way, they can look it up and see what the status is. My only question mark is WHEN it would have entered the system.

also - request a tax transcript. It shows what all was sent to them from employers, so you can compare it to what you filed.

In the future, e-file all your returns. Mailing the IRS is no longer a trustworthy solution.

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I have heard from a couple of CPAs that the IRS is still working on 2019 returns. If you mailed it in, you are waiting.

I have one friend who is in the same boat as your son. Waiting on the return. They can get into the system, but it doesn't even show they have received it. She resent another return and so far, same results.

5 or so years ago I was able to hand deliver a return to a field office and at least get it stamped as received. Not sure if they are doing that anymore "due to covid."

I'd try the taxpayer advocate.

My understanding is that there is no way for an individual citizen to contact the irs by phone.


It can be done, just takes some persistence. My 2020 return/refund filed Oct 15, 2021 was in a black hole so I decided I would try to set up an appointment at the Austin IRS office in April for a face to face to try and resolve it. The number to call to set an appointment is different than the regular numbers and is on the website. When someone came on the line, she asked me what the issue was and lo and behold she released my hold and my refund was issued 10 days later. I thought they would be just an appointment setting line, but they were empowered to resolve my issue.