Why is my amended tax return still not ready?

Question

I called the IRS because they said my refund would be ready by the 18th of July and it wasn't then they said to call back in a week. But when I asked would there still be a chance of the return still not being finished they told me it would be a possibility. All I did was amend for the hope credit for school. Why is it taking so long? what should I do?

Answer 1

Amended returns take 12-16 weeks to process.  It's not that it takes that long to actually work on it, but yours isn't the only amendment they have, so it takes a long time for them to get to yours.

Answer 2

Have you received a letter from the IRS saying they have received your Amended Return, Form 1040X?  Just because the IRS confirms they have received the amended return does not mean that anyone is working on it.  Sometimes they send out a letter saying that they need additional time.  Like the other answer here says, there are a lot of amended returns to process.  

If you have not recieved a letter telling you that the IRS receied the amended return or you have not received a letter telling you they need additional time, then contact the Taxpayer Advocate Service.  You can find the local Taxpayer Advocate Service telephone number for your state on the IRS web site at www.irs.gov.  I think the link is near the bottom on the right side.

The Taxpayer Advocate Service can get your amended return processed by the IRS.

Answer 3

Processing Form 1040X is taking up to 16 weeks to process.  IRS is busy trying to process original returns at this time.  Processing amended returns is in the back burner.

Answer 4

So, call back in a week.

If the IRS is working on it, they are working on it.

PS, why was your HOPE credit  left off the original return?  Yes, I know the IRS was delaying the processing of tax returns that included education credits (due to programming delays), but the best course of action would have been to wait until mid February to file the tax return with everything on it.  Instead thousands of taxpayers efiled the rest of their tax return and then submitted an amended return for the credit.  This contributed to a  HUGE backlog of returns to be processed at the service center.

Answer 5

Normal processing time for an amended return is 8-12 weeks. However, the IRS is experiencing a tremendous volume of amended and duplicate returns due to the stimulus programs, and resources are being stretched thin. I don't reccommend calling the Taxpayer Advocate at this point. The IRS is very aware of the problem and has actually been taking employees off the phones to work on processing the amended returns. You'll just have to be patient.