February 20, 2013 – Form 8867 Earned Income Credit Checklist (updated)

As we noted in a news item yesterday, early in the filing season the IRS accepted a large number of returns containing Form 8867 (Paid Preparers Earned Income Credit Checklist) even though the Form 8867 contained incomplete information. Refunds related to these returns have not yet been released by the IRS.
In a number of these cases, the IRS has inadvertently mailed the taxpayer a letter, asking the taxpayer to provide the IRS with Form 8867 by fax or mail. The IRS has indicated that these letters were mailed to taxpayers in error, and it is believed that taxpayers DO NOT need to reply to these letters in order to have their refund released by the IRS.
The IRS is working on resolving this problem, and has indicated that refunds which have been delayed by the IRS due to this nationwide problem should be released soon, possibly within the next week.