Did you claim the Earned Income Tax Credit and/or the Additional Child Tax Credit? We did. And that’s exactly why our tax refund won’t arrive until at least late February this year.
For the last ten years, we’ve filed as early as possible and we’ve appreciated receiving our refund within just a few weeks via direct deposit. Not this year!
When I checked the IRS website today, I noticed a very unhappy announcement that could be causing your tax refund delay.
If you claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) or the Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC), you can expect to get your refund March 1 if:
- You file your return online
- You choose to get your refund by direct deposit
- We found no issues with your return
By law, we can’t issue EITC or ACTC refunds before mid-February. This includes your entire refund, not just the part that’s related to the credit you claimed on your tax return.
Boo. 🙁
The law that causes EITC and ACTC refunds to be held does not allow the IRS to issue partial refunds. If you claimed these credits, your entire refund is on hold until they begin processing refunds. If the IRS has any questions about your return, you’ll be waiting even longer.
You can read more about this unhappy tax refund delay update on the IRS website.
Nicole Thelin
Nicole leads the Low Income Relief team with over 20 years of professional research and writing experience. Nicole started Low Income Relief after a personal experience with poverty. When her husband was medically discharged from the US Army, their family experienced tremendous financial hardship. Nicole was able to gather help from multiple community agencies and move into a nearby low income housing unit in just two weeks! Since then, Nicole has been dedicated to helping low income families in crisis. She regularly spends hundreds of hours combing through countless resources to make sure that Low Income Relief has the most comprehensive and complete resource directories on the internet today. Prior to starting Low Income Relief, Nicole worked as a novelist, journalist, ghostwriter and content creator. Her work has been featured in various print and online publications, including USA Today, eHow, Livestrong, Legal Beagle, The Daily Herald, The Chronicle and more.
