If you submit a tax return and are expecting a refund, you may experience a delay, or even an alteration of your refund, if certain conditions are present. The circumstances that may delay a refund are:

• You owe individual or business taxes for previous years, which can offset any refund amount
• You owe child support that has been delinquent, in which case the refund offsets the money owed
• You have delinquency on federal debt like student loans, which will use the refund amount to cover outstanding costs
• You have listed a different last name and social security number than that of the previous year, which will delay the return by seven days minimum for re-matching.
• You have attached a Form 8379 Injured Spouse Allocation.
• You have not filed a tax return in the past ten years, rendering you a first time filer.
• Reported Estimated Tax Payments don’t match the IRS Master File, which can occur if your spouse makes separate payments and you file a joint return, or vice versa. It can also happen if the return was filed prior to the last payment of Estimated Taxes being credited.