How Do I Get A Refund If I Overpaid My Taxes?

If you filed a tax return with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in 2022, you probably received a refund by now if you overpaid on your taxes, especially if you filed using the IRS e-file system.

The IRS has already processed more than 140 million tax returns in 2022 out of about 145 million filings. It has also sent over 96 million overpaid refunds, amounting to more than $292 billion. On average, the IRS repaid $3,000 in each refund, which means the average taxpayer overpaid this amount..

With the IRS' e-file system, you can get your refund in 2-3 weeks, but if you filed your taxes using paper filing, it might take 6-8 weeks, or and even six months in some cases to receive your refund. If you still don't get your refund, it can be for several reasons.

What's an IRS tax refund?

A tax refund is an amount of money a taxpayer receives from the IRS after filing their tax return, that is equal to the amount they overpaid on tax payments. Overpaying on taxes can be the result of overpaying on quarterly estimated tax payments if you're self-employed, or of your employer automatically deducting more from your paychecks than you ended up owing.

Why didn't I get my IRS tax refund?

Not receiving your tax refund can happen for several reasons, but for the most part, it happens because:

1. There was an error in your tax return
2. The IRS suspects identity theft
3. You underpaid your taxes
4. You filed an amended return
5. The IRS needs more info

How to get my tax refund

Ideally, you don't have to do anything to get your refund. The IRS will deposit the refund amount directly to the bank account you mentioned during the e-file. If you filed using the paper method, the IRS will send you a check at the address mentioned on your tax return on Form 1040.

E-filing is the fastest way to get your IRS overpayment refund.

If you don't get your tax refund after 45 days of filing your return, you can call the IRS helpline and ask them what the reason is for the delay. These could be if there's a correction in your earned income credit, recovery rebate credit or child tax credit.

You should call the IRS if you have not yet received your refund and:

• You e-filed more than 21 days ago
• You filed a paper return more than six months ago
• Where's My Refund prompts you to call the IRS

In some cases, the IRS will try to find a way to correct the error and will only contact you if it needs more information.

The IRS wants to send you the refund within 45 days. After that, it will owe you interest on the overpaid taxes. The interest rate on overpaid tax refunds for 2022 is 5%. It was bumped up 1% this year due to a decision by the Federal Reserve to raise federal interest rates.

The 45-day period begins when the IRS receives your tax return. With e-file, that day is April 18, and with paper filing, it's whenever the IRS marks your return as "accepted."

I received an overpaid tax refund, but it's not the correct amount

There are situations where the IRS can send you an amount that is less than your overpayment tax refund. Or, you might get an interest amount that is less than what you were entitled to receive.

In this case, you can fill out and submit Form 843 for the IRS to decide if they owe you additional interest. When you fill out Form 843, mention the reason why you think the IRS owes you additional interest in line 7.

When you receive an overpaid tax refund, you have to pay taxes on it in the next tax year.

You can avoid all of this if you accurately calculate your estimated quarterly tax payments, especially if you are a self-employed person, freelancer or independent contractor.

How can I avoid overpaying my quarterly estimated taxes?

Overpaying your taxes is like giving the IRS an interest-free loan. You could otherwise use this money to invest in a retirement plan, stocks or cryptocurrency, or to buy that house you always wanted.

To accurately calculate your quarterly estimated taxes, you can either have all your expenses listed in an excel sheet or speed up this tedious task by using a tax filing tool like FlyFin A.I.

FlyFin will help you categorize your business expenses automatically within minutes and find every possible deduction. You can also get 24/7 CPA help to confirm all the deductions and significantly lower your taxable income. You can save on average $3,700 each year on taxes.