The refund may take longer. Iowa Department of Revenue (IDOR or IDR) is committed to combating identity theft and tax refund fraud. We have robust fraud engines built into our processing systems and we are dedicating more time to verifying the validity of tax refund claims before issuing refunds. The extra time taken helps ensure the right person gets the right refund and criminals don’t pocket Iowa taxpayers’ money.
The taxpayer may get correspondence from IDR. Part of the verification process may require an examiner to reach out to the taxpayer. If you do receive correspondence, contact the examiner listed as soon as possible to expedite the process.
Earned Income Tax Credits (EITC) refunds will not be paid until early March. Beginning in 2017, a new federal law requires the IRS to hold refunds on tax returns claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) until mid-February. This change helps ensure that taxpayers get the refund they are owed by giving the IRS more time to help detect and prevent fraud. IDR will also take time to apply its own fraud checks to EITC refund claims. As a result, it will likely be the beginning of March before EITC refunds are issued.
Taxpayer’s can help themselves by providing a driver’s license number.
Most electronic tax software has an optional field for driver’s license number. Providing that information as part of the return will expedite our verification process. This option is not available for paper returns.
bmp, CPA will require all clients to provide a valid driver’s license number to help expedite the IDOR verification process.
