February 19, 2013 – Update on Form 8867 Earned Income Credit Checklist

Earlier this month, the IRS reported that a large number of tax returns containing Form 8867 (Paid Preparers Earned Income Credit Checklist) were accepted by the IRS, even though the Form 8867 contained incomplete information. The IRS previously reported that the refunds of these taxpayers would be delayed temporarily.
The IRS has not yet released these held refunds. As a result, there are a large number of taxpayers who claimed EITC in the first few days of the filing season, whose refund has still not been released by the IRS.
The IRS is aware of this problem and is working to resolve the issue. This problem is a nationwide problem, and has affected taxpayers and tax preparers all over the country.
For taxpayers affected by this problem, the IRS Where’s My Refund will not provide any information other than to say “Your tax return is still being processed. A refund date will be provided when available.”