 TITLE: Will Identity Theft Delay My Tax Refund? CONTENT: Will Your Refund Be Delayed?\n----------------------------\nWhether the IRS contacts you about duplicate tax returns or you've reached out to them after having trouble e-filing your return, tax identity fraud will probably delay your refund. Although every case is different, weeks or even months can pass before your case gets resolved.\nThink through this hypothetical: An IRS screening system finds possible identity theft related to your tax return. From there, the identity theft resolution process begins:\n*   The IRS sends you a letter through the U.S. mail to notify you of the issue and ask you to verify your identity. This can be done online, by phone or in person at an IRS office. It's important to note that the IRS will always send a letter first—you will not receive an impromptu call or email from them requesting information or payment or threatening to throw you in jail. It's possible that follow-up correspondence will be done via other methods, but a letter will always come first.\n*   If you don't receive the letter, don't read it or don't respond, your return remains on hold.\n*   Once you verify your identity, the IRS will process your return, and may apply additional scrutiny to help safeguard against fraud. These checks may take only a few days to complete, but about a quarter of returns requiring a manual review take 56 days or longer, according to the IRS.\n*   Once your return is processed and a refund approved, the IRS can take a few weeks to issue a refund.\n*   If you've elected to receive your refund by check, add at least a week for the U.S. mail to deliver it.\nIRS fraud filters flagged 5.2 million refunds in 2020. Roughly 18% of the tax returns flagged for possible identity fraud by the IRS in 2020 took longer than 120 days to resolve, according to the IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service. In 2020, 65,000 taxpayers sought Taxpayer Advocate Service assistance with pre-refund identity or income verification issues. If you experience a delay in getting your refund due to identity theft and it causes you financial hardship (think eviction, utilities being disconnected, inability to pay for medical care), you can contact the Taxpayer Advocate Service to file an appeal. END