Where's my tax refund? Will IRS layoffs impact your returns?
If you are waiting on your tax refund, many are wondering if they'll have to wait even longer this year as thousands of IRS employees are being terminated right in the middle of tax season.
Roughly 6,000 newly hired IRS workers, including around 400 in Philadelphia, have received termination notices within the past 24 hours, according to the National Treasury Employees Union.
The widespread cuts come less than two months before the tax filing deadline and as the Department of Government Efficiency under President Donald Trump's adviser Elon Musk seeks to shrink the size of the federal workforce in an effort to radically cut spending and restructure the government's priorities.
"The leopard ate my face"
Rob McCabe is among the hundreds of newly hired IRS employees in Philadelphia who reported to work on Thursday only to be shown the door a few hours later. Before his firing, he'd been working as an examiner for just a few months, reviewing returns flagged for discrepancies from the previous filing season.
McCabe admits he now finds himself in an unexpected position, given his support of Trump's plan to cut the size of the federal workforce.
"The leopard ate my face, as they say," McCabe told CBS News Philadelphia. "He is doing what I voted for, just very aggressively… and I, you know, I've suffered under that policy."
Asked if he'd have voted differently knowing he'd be laid off, he said he didn't know.
McCabe characterized the federal layoffs over the previous two weeks as chaotic and poorly executed.
"To audit something like the IRS and truly find where the waste is and do it correctly, isn't something that you can do in 15 days," he said. "And it's not going to be accomplished with a string of aggressive emails."
McCabe's colleague Nicholas Berardi is also out of a job after three months with the agency.
"I feel like I kind of got robbed," Berardi said.
Like the other employees who received termination notices, Berardi said his job performance was cited as the reason for his layoff despite the fact that he hadn't yet received a formal review.
"I feel like I was fired illegally," he said. "So I'm extremely ticked off to put it, to put it lightly."
Alex Jay Berman, executive vice president of NTEU Chapter 71, also told CBS News Philadelphia that many of the impacted workers were so new to the job they hadn't been reviewed yet. Those who had received reviews were positive.
"We have one employee, for example, that was fired today who is the daughter of a 30-year decorated employee here at the same service center and shows the same abilities and the same aptitude as her mother, who was getting great marks, great reviews, and was thrown out like trash, 36 weeks pregnant," Berman said.
What does it mean for refunds?
Tax professionals have always advised filing returns early, but this year it could be even more critical.
In a letter sent to the Trump administration on Tuesday, several top Congressional Democrats urged an end to the IRS hiring freeze.
"It is nearly inevitable that this hiring freeze, compounded by layoffs and further reductions in staff mandated as a result of Elon Musk's unprecedented power grab, will delay refunds and degrade taxpayer service," the letter said. "Millions of Americans plan their budgets around timely refunds every filing season. These reckless decisions on the part of Elon Musk and the Trump administration will likely cause serious financial hardship for people across the country."
For the fastest turnaround, the IRS recommends filing electronically and opting to receive your refund via direct deposit, instead of having it mailed to you. Before the recent layoffs, the IRS estimated it should take 21 days or less to receive your refund if you file electronically.
Berardi told CBS News Philadelphia he believed the layoffs would have minimal impact on processing returns. Instead, he worries it could invite fraud and abuse. Most of the eliminated workforce dealt with auditing and collections, according to the union.
"Our small department, AUR (Automated Underreporter), wasn't that big at all, but we made a lot of money for the federal government coming in and making sure that people's tax returns were correct, you know that they were filing for the income they needed to," Berardi said.
That sentiment was echoed on Thursday by Vanessa Williamson, a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, who said in a call with reporters that the layoffs at the IRS will disproportionately harm enforcement efforts.
"When you underpay and understaff the IRS, the agency doesn't have the power or the resources it needs to go after wealthy tax evaders with their high-priced lawyers," she said, adding, "The result is, of course, a disaster for revenue."
Where's my refund?
In a typical year, the IRS says it takes six to eight weeks from receiving your return for you to get your refund if you file by paper. Staffing shortages could extend that.
But filing electronically can cut that time down to two to three weeks and it can be even faster if you opt to have your refund directly deposited into your bank account instead of opting for a check in the mail, according to the IRS.
Within 24 hours of e-filing, you can use IRS.gov to check your refund status with the "Where's My Refund?" tool. If you file a paper return it could take up to four weeks.
You will need the following information to check your status:
- Social Security number or individual taxpayer ID number (ITIN)
- Filing status
- The exact refund amount on your return
The tool will show you when your refund is received, when it gets approved, and when your refund is sent.
Similarly, you can track the status of your income tax refund from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, or Delaware online. Each state requires you to enter your Social Security number and exact refund amount on your return.
According to New Jersey's Department of the Treasury, processing of electronic returns typically takes a minimum of four weeks, while processing of paper tax returns typically takes a minimum of 12 weeks. Delaware's Division of Revenue says to allow 10-12 weeks for processing.
Do you have a money question, a consumer issue, or a scam story you want to share? Email InYourCorner@cbs.com
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
