Don’t Lose Your Tax Refund: Avoid This Common IRS Mistake Millions Make

As the 2025 tax season comes to a close, many people may be looking forward to getting their money back soon. But it’s very important not to get ahead of yourself.

Beyond the fact that you may not always be qualified for a refund, the IRS still has the power to hold on to your money for a variety of reasons.

Once you file your taxes, you should get your return pretty quickly. However, if there are problems with your debt, they may not be sent to you right away.

Why the IRS takes care of tax payments

If you paid more in federal taxes than you owed, you will usually get a tax return. Because of this, you must still file your taxes, even if you are an employee whose tax responsibility is taken out of your pay cheque every month.

When you file your taxes, you show the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) the difference between how much tax you actually paid and how much income-based debt you actually have.

When you file your taxes, you may get a tax return. When you get a tax credit, you pay the government less in taxes. There are two types of tax credits:

Credits that you can’t get back can lower your taxes to zero, but they can’t go any lower. You won’t get your leftover credit back.

Refundable credits: If the credit is more than your tax debt, you may be able to get a refund. This can be seen in the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).

Why the IRS might not give you your refund?

There are a few reasons you might not get a return even though you might be able to get one. This could happen if you’ve already paid your federal taxes but still owe money on your state taxes.

In 41 of the 50 US states, you have to pay state income tax. If you don’t pay this, the IRS will not give you your return.

The government can also hold your return if you are behind on payments on a college loan they gave you.

The government owes a little more than $1.6 trillion in student loans. If you are behind on your loan payments, the government may not give you your return so they can get the money you owe them.

You may also not be able to file your taxes if you owe child or partner support. If a parent doesn’t pay child support as agreed by the court, the state’s child support agency could ask the Treasury Department to take money from the parent’s tax return to make up the difference.

Also, if you haven’t paid any spouse support that’s due, your return will be held up.

What to do if your refund is turned down?

Getting an IRS return is the job of the Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS) in the U.S. Department of the Treasury. You should contact them first. You can call them at this number: For BFS, call 1-888-826-3127.

Depending on why your rewards are being held, the BFS can help you figure out what your options are and, if needed, help you make a payment plan.

If the IRS gave you extra time, you only need to file by October 15, even though the due date for paying and sending in your taxes has already passed.

Make sure you pay all of your bills before you file, or call the IRS to set up a payment plan. That way, when you file later this year, your refunds won’t be held up.

Always get in touch with the IRS if you think you might have trouble paying your taxes and bills.

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