Tax Filing System Glitch Delays Some Refunds [Oh Noes!]

You’ve probably seen all your tax filing friends on Facebook eagerly plotting out the bounty of their tax refunds (or complaining about car troubles or roof leaks sucking up the cash) but some taxpayers might be in for an unpleasant surprise, as it turns out tax refunds may be delayed for a bit due to a software glitch.

Tax preparers are reporting angry customers complaining about delays receiving refunds after tax filing delays, but the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is said to be nearly caught up on getting tax refunds out to eager Americans. It seems the delay is down to a software upgrade, and the older version was expected to be phased out in October. However, that has not yet occurred, and some tax preparers had to resort to the old version in order to get tax returns in and ready.

IRS spokesman Frank Keith acknowledged the software clusterfracas as inhibiting tax filings for 2011, and said the agency won’t clear it up until tax season ends:

“A final decision on that won’t be made until after the filing season and after we have a chance to have additional conversations with” tax return preparers, said IRS spokesman Frank Keith… The IRS said delays in sending out refunds began in February. “There were probably several million taxpayers whose returns we took longer to process,” Keith said.

Mark Staber of Jackson Hewitt told the wire service that the IRS could have been a bit more helpful to tax preparers in regards to glitchy tax filings:

“The delays – and IRS not being as communicative as perhaps they could have been – have left many consumers frustrated and confused over the timing of their refunds.”

Have you experienced a refund delay after this year’s tax filing?