In 2025, there is a complicated situation going on with the tax returns of millions of Americans. Tax officials handle important tax returns for working families, who use credits like the EITC and ACTC to meet their basic needs. A lot of different factors and established regulatory rules affect the process.
There are a number of things that can cause returns to be delayed. The process takes longer because of mistakes in the statement, like wrong numbers or missing forms, and extra checks to stop credit fraud. When there are a lot of statements during the busy season, it takes institutions a lot longer to respond.
The reason some tax refunds are coming late this year
In general, the IRS gives notices like CP21-A, which gives you 60 days to fix mistakes, as a reason. To stop identity theft, checks on credits like EITC and ACTC are being made more thorough. This affects tax returns that need a more in-depth look by the government.
If you owe money to the IRS or other government agencies, the process is slowed down because the Treasury Compensation Program pays off unpaid amounts. In the same way, if you think someone has stolen your name, which is indicated by Letter 5071C, you have to go through a verification process that can make the time it takes to get your money back longer in each case.
The IRS is cutting back on workers. Will this cause delays?
In 2025, when Donald Trump and Elon Musk became “secretaries” of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), they told dozens of thousands of federal workers they had to be let go. This caused problems in government offices and slowed down paperwork and procedures.
Decisions made by the White House to cut jobs have an effect on how returns are processed. Reports from different news outlets say that up to 90,000 tax agents could be moved or fired, which would make the office less effective during tax season.
People have also said that the $40 billion cut to IRS services is to blame for the delays. It is one of the biggest changes to the American budget in history, and the staff cuts we already talked about are part of these cuts.
The fact that Commissioner Danny Werfel quit on January 20, 2025, makes the company less stable. Reader comments, like Yvette’s on February 17, have talked about how layoffs during tax season put more stress on the system for reviewing and completing returns when resources are limited.
Filing returns with ITINs that have ended or are about to expire is another factor. The IRS will take these cases, but delays can happen because of a lack of staff. Also, the rules for the ACTC credit say that returns can’t be given before the middle of February. This means that the total refund will be different when the benefit is claimed.
