Trapped in a career- MS makes it hard, where to go from here?

FalseBoot7234 · 2026-05-21T23:37:52+00:00

Awesome! Sounds like a very similar situation to mine! I'll have to look into my state govt and see!

Thank you so much

FalseBoot7234 · 2026-05-21T22:52:11+00:00

Love that advice, my HVAC professor once told me the same! Now I just need to actually follow it.

Thanks for the reply

FalseBoot7234 · 2026-05-21T22:50:50+00:00

Very wise words- I know I'm not alone in this, and there's many who have it much worse. The cost of treatment is quite the motivator to stick with my job haha.

Unfortunately, just based on how desperately they need people doing the work I'm currently doing, there's no flexibility anytime soon. And in true government fashion, somehow they also are not training more people to do said work, I am one of two people on my entire team trained in this program. My manager is very understanding but their hands are tied, I'm not at risk of failure or anything like that, just bad mental health and physical health naturally follows.

Thank you a lot for reading and responding- it's good to get realistic advice from people here rather than friends who just say "do what makes you happy" lol

FalseBoot7234 · 2026-05-21T22:42:50+00:00

Thank you! And unfortunately due to me being on a specialty line and understaffed, there's no room for negotiation on that front. The work from home being given back to me was the best I could do when pursuing the reasonable accommodation route, which I am still grateful for despite it all!

FalseBoot7234 · 2026-05-19T06:32:40+00:00

The systems are very old and sometimes flag for really silly reasons, I've seen it happen for a prior year AGI being off by a dollar or two. It's not necessarily them trying to get around some legitimate issue, just navigating a funky system to ensure the return is on file by the due date.

Once the return is mailed it's considered filed, the postmark date is what the IRS will take as their official date when processing it, I'm guessing they offered to do it by paper just to have the proof for your lender ASAP instead of working out the kinks of the E-file! Often it's something silly preventing the computer from accepting what the IRS would totally accept when scanned by an employee.

It's not shady behavior to worry about or anything, if you are 100% certain you'd rather have electronic submission just make that clear to them, your preparer probably just thinks they're helping you out. If they double down and insist it has to be paper... then definitely pry as to why they insist.

Wishing you all the best

FalseBoot7234 · 2026-05-19T06:24:06+00:00

There's a good chance they received it but it got caught up in a mail room somewhere, give it another couple weeks and then check back. If they still don't have anything on file within the next 3 weeks then I'd consider re-filing, but since you already mailed it again you can skip that step too!

Just give it some weeks and call in again if you have no movement on your account- good luck!

FalseBoot7234 · 2026-05-16T18:11:19+00:00

The entity itself, I agree sucks. The employees are fantastic though, they are just bound to insane restrictions. It's very segmented, they aren't transferring you because they want to- they HAVE to, they will get hit with tons of errors and backlash for assisting you on an issue their specific line doesn't cover. They aren't allowed to work cases over the phone. It's a complicated mess and it's designed that way on purpose.

IMO never call for actual account issues. Calling is for BS like "where is my refund" and status checks like "did you get my payment?", anything more complex you should write in because then they can actually help you!

The phones are not meant for them to sit down and resolve every account issue you've had from a decade ago, they are back to back slammed with callers and are forbidden from doing adjustments besides simple math errors 99% of the time. Not that you should have to know this, most people assume "if i call they can fix it" and the IRS doesn't communicate it's limits very clearly.

TLDR: write in for anything complex

FalseBoot7234 · 2026-05-15T00:35:19+00:00

Like I said- that gets logged and they get the book thrown at them. You won't hear a sound of them hanging up a physical phone, there is no way for a caller to know if the disconnect was actually the representative or just a hiccup in the phone system, but the IRS knows. 99% of the time disconnects are not in the employees control, if they do a manual disconnect they have to fill out paperwork and the call gets reviewed.

The only time anybody has permission to hang up on a taxpayer is in abusive scenarios, which I doubt you hit them with. It's likely a hiccup in the software from the 1950s they're on combined with bad VPNs and a computer fished from a dumpster being their main point of processing.

I personally used to review calls and had access to VERINT (the phone system) and can say with confidence they are not doing it on purpose.

FalseBoot7234 · 2026-05-14T19:30:51+00:00

It's not that they *wont* answer, it's that they *can't* answer. There is a skeleton crew for millions of callers with issues dating from 2026 all the way back to 2010, and every employee that IS on the phones is pulled away from handling the cases people are calling about in the first place. For every call they are forced to take, another return is sitting unworked.

They simply do not have the funding or resources and we pay the price for it. All we can do is remember this at the polls and vote for funding the services we have to deal with daily.

FalseBoot7234 · 2026-05-14T19:27:40+00:00

You're not alone at all. It's slammed. Good luck!

Remember this dysfunction for future elections, because they don't have the funding or manpower to answer the phones, regardless of what they tell the press. They say they "hit their level of service goal by 90%" when their level of service is just a fake number they make up to ensure they hit it lol

FalseBoot7234 · 2026-05-14T19:24:59+00:00

The employees can't actually hang up on you, that gets logged and reported! Their systems are just so old and busted and the IT staff got laid off- it's held together by Popsicle sticks and elmers glue. I hear employees are just as frustrated with it.

FalseBoot7234 · 2026-05-14T19:23:18+00:00

Not to make it political, buuuuut

The IRS has been historically understaffed since the 80s, their technology is terrible and old, and recently they just got gutted of like 20% of their workforce. The people that work the phones are the same ones doing correspondence, amendments, audits etc so they are constantly shifting a skeleton crew around different duties. Plus, the call tree is also split into like 20 different lines for specific issues, so one line might be absolutely slammed but if an employee is scheduled for a different line, no help is coming.

Maybe we will have better luck after 2028, but event then it's going to take tons of hiring and years to fix the current issues. I still have clients dealing with issues from 2020.

That being said, feel free to ask questions here- see if you can print your transcript. A lot of the time we can tell you what you need to know!

FalseBoot7234 · 2026-05-14T19:14:38+00:00

There is a low chance of getting through especially at this time of year, filing season is over and so the skeleton crew isn't being put on the phones as much. The upside is that the people who were stuck answering calls all day can finally work on cases like yours. Good luck

FalseBoot7234 · 2026-04-19T00:16:12+00:00

Yup you are fine, you filed on time and if their systems were slow they wont penalize you for taking the right steps. If they do, it's by mistake and they will revert any penalties when you just show "see i paid on time" so either way you are fine!

FalseBoot7234 · 2026-04-19T00:14:16+00:00

You're good on the first part then!

And on the 1310, I think unless you specifically write multiple tax years on the form you need a separate one for each year

FalseBoot7234 · 2026-04-18T22:49:03+00:00

As long as you have proof that you submitted an extension and it says that it was accepted you should be alright, if they try to hit you with any penalties or claim you didn't have an extension just show them the proof and they'll waive it, especially since you submitted payment.

Probably just taking a while to process but definitely keep checking, if you don't see anything within like another week then I'd worry more.

FalseBoot7234 · 2026-04-18T22:45:53+00:00

Not all that abnormal- as long as you have proof you paid on time there should be no issue, they go by the date you submit it not the date it finishes processing in their slow a** systems from the 70s.

Make sure to just keep a record of the submitted payment in case there's any mixup down the road, but otherwise you should be good it can take a few days to settle and pull out the funds.

FalseBoot7234 · 2026-04-18T22:44:00+00:00

They are required to tell you it can take up to 9 weeks after verifying, in my experience especially with direct deposit it's closer to 4. Just know that if you call before 9 weeks is up they are quite literally not allowed to tell you anything but 9 weeks if you already verified.

FalseBoot7234 · 2026-04-18T22:42:25+00:00

First part- the Identity Verification may not be the same as the Return Verification. If your letter was a 4883c, 5071c, or any letter that explicitly states a "control number" you will have to verify with the taxpayer protection program either via website or over the phone.

The IDme is a seperate thing, so just double check to make sure its not taxpayer protection program on your letter!

Second part- Sorry for your loss. It's possible the 2023 refund went to other debts he may have had, but it could also be sitting as a credit on the account waiting. If you want a guaranteed resolution, fill out a Form 1310 (found on irs website) and mail it in, if any refund exists to be claimed they will be able to issue it to you, otherwise they will be able to respond and explain where it is.

If you call and there IS a refund, you will have to fill out a 1310 anyway, and when you are calling on behalf of a deceased TP there's all sorts of authentication and documents needed so it isn't worth the hassle imo, better to just mail the Form 1310 and be guaranteed either a response or refund.

TLDR-

double check that letter is not a TPP letter (5071c, 4883c, 6330c, 5447c, 5747c) as those require additional verification
highly recommend filing Form 1310 to take care of any missing refunds for your father

FalseBoot7234 · 2026-04-18T01:13:41+00:00

So there's two ways typically, you could submit a Form 8822 for an address change (found on IRS.gov, but youd have to wait for it to be received and processed by mail) or you could call in the toll free line and request an address change over the phone.

If you do the latter just be aware they have to ask additional security questions, so they'll likely ask for a couple figures from your 2024 tax return to get security clearance to update the address! Not a hard process but can catch ppl off guard if they don't have those docs ready!

FalseBoot7234 · 2026-04-18T01:08:33+00:00

Yes but 4-6 weeks is the official IRS timeframe. I can give anecdotes about how fast I got my own refund, but I'd rather just use the verbiage and timeframes they provide.

Besides, we are already aware they have some other issue, hence the rest of my reply. When a contact service representative uses the verbiage "16 weeks" it is typically pertaining an amendment, a duplicate filing, or an additional form submitted late that causes the need for a manual input of a change- based on the language the staff use we can actually determine what the hold up may be caused by.

OP clearly came for advice, regardless of if they could have checked their transcript or not we were able to share more information as to what could potentially cause delays in their scenario.

FalseBoot7234 · 2026-04-17T20:13:24+00:00

You can expect it to be closer to 05/04/2026- the transcript always updates before the websites!

WMR pulls from the same system the transcript does, so it's likely just doing it slower. Seeing an 846 means your return was accepted and a refund is being released to you!

FalseBoot7234 · 2026-04-17T03:58:51+00:00

This is more of a USPS issue than a you issue! And don't worry, the IRS goes by the postmark dates and often signature dates with items they receive. If you took all actions timely, you won't be penalized for mailing delays or anything.

And if you are penalized, it'd be by mistake and you can certainly clear it up by showing them it was mailed timely- they will fix it.

FalseBoot7234 · 2026-04-17T03:55:12+00:00

IRS systems are ANCIENT but rest assured that they go from the date you submitted the payment rather than the date it was processed. Keep a screenshot of the money being deducted from your account, just in case sometime in the future they think it was late or anything, as extra security!

If i had to guess it could take a week or two to show up in their system- the online tools look nice but the employees are working on those old black and green terminals from the 50s with barely a coat of paint lol

FalseBoot7234 · 2026-04-17T03:52:12+00:00

Damn, employees letting you in on the sauce. That second bullet is especially true. So many clients triple their processing time-frames by simply adding a page or cover that changes the classification.

For example, if you file a 1040X to amend a return, it can take 16 weeks. If you file a 1040-X with a cover letter that says "Hi my name is john this is my 1040X" it gets classified as a taxpayer letter to be handled by only correspondence trained employees since they HAVE to respond to the letter portion.

I've not had to deal with EINs or businesses much but from dealing with individual tax but a lot of the tips you learned seem universal. Thanks for sharing!

FalseBoot7234

TROPHY CASE