Those who filed tax returns with H&R Block may see their refunds delayed by at least a month.
The IRS and H&R Block confirmed a mistake that could affect more than 600,000 returns. It has to do with Form 8863, which is used to claim education tax credits, on returns filed between Feb. 14 and Feb. 22.
The IRS changed how some "yes-no" questions have to be answered. Some H&R Block software didn't adjust for that.
Read the statement from H&R Block:
H&R Block has confirmed with the IRS that there was an issue with a limited number of software company products that affected some tax returns filed between Feb. 14 and 22, 2013 that included certain education tax credits claimed on Form 8863.
H&R Block has worked with the IRS to expedite a solution to this issue for all of our affected clients.
We want to assure the impacted clients that we are doing everything we can. The IRS has informed us and other impacted providers that they are currently processing returns. This review process means the IRS may need 4-6 weeks from this date to issue a refund. The IRS is working to address this situation and hopes to reduce those projected refund time frames. H&R Block clients are already reporting a change in their refund status since the IRS began processing these returns. The IRS is reminding taxpayers to check "Where's My Refund?" on IRS.gov to determine status of their refund.
At this time, there is no additional action needed if you are an H&R Block client who:
- received an IRS letter requesting additional information for Form 8863 and already responded to the IRS; or
- you have not received an IRS letter about Form 8863 to date.
For those H&R Block clients who have received a letter from the IRS and have yet to respond, please call your local H&R Block office or 800-HRBLOCK. The office or customer service agent will be able to better serve you and provide next steps.
The IRS has stopped sending letters based on this Form 8863 issue to this group of affected H&R Block clients.
If an affected client applied for financial aid through the FAFSA program and is waiting for their return processing to be complete in order to finalize the FAFSA application, there are manual steps they can take that will allow their FAFSA application to proceed while their return is still processing.
The Department of Education suggests:
- If your return has not yet been processed by the IRS - you can manually enter the tax return data on the application.
- Return to the online FAFSA to update the information when your return has been processed.
This information is posted on the Department of Education website http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/.
H&R Block appreciates that this issue may cause problems for our clients. We will continue to update clients as more information becomes available. We thank clients for their patience while we work with the IRS to expedite the filing process on their behalf.
