Even dead people are waiting on their tax refunds — and loved ones say it’s holding up emotional closure

• The IRS has a backlog of millions of previous years’ returns — some of them for deceased filers.
• Their loved ones are stuck in limbo, keeping accounts open and waiting for a final check.
• Some loved ones said that it’s preventing them from getting emotional closure and moving on.

Amber Marino’s father died in February 2021, but she still pays $8 a month to keep his bank account open. 

“It’s just sitting there,” the 39-year-old from Tennessee told Insider.

That’s because Marino’s father is still waiting on a tax return from 2020, which is supposed to be sent to his bank account.

Marino said she filed for an extension while waiting on paperwork from the court that allowed her to file on his behalf. Once she received the paperwork, she sent it in through certified mail in June. US Postal Service tracking showed it had arrived at the IRS in early June.

“Then I waited — and I continue to wait,” Marino said.

A new tax season is here, but dozens of Americans told Insider they’re still waiting on refunds from years past. The IRS is understaffed, underfunded, and grappling with a backlog of millions of returns — some of which belong to taxpayers who are no longer alive. For living taxpayers, delays are threatening their financial security and ability to afford things like rent and groceries.

For taxpayers waiting on a loved one’s refund, the delays can prolong the process of closing out their loved one’s estates — and can take an emotional toll on the people left behind.

In Marino’s case, that means keeping a bank account open for months, with the probate process complete, except for that tax return of about $850.

“It’s really awful,” she said. “It’s overwhelming.” 

When reached for comment, the IRS directed Insider to resources on accessing returns when a direct-deposit account’s information is incorrect.

They’re calling, but nobody ever picks up

Marino called the IRS every day for two weeks. She “continually” got a message that the agency was experiencing high call volume and to call back later.

Meanwhile, in Ohio, Susan and Vince Ashcraft have been trying to get in touch with the IRS for two years. In 2019, Vince’s mother died. The Ashcrafts filed a return on her behalf around March 2020, they said, and filed an amended return when they realized there was a misspelling on the original return. 

“We did get a letter in the mail after the amended return: ‘We received your amended return and you should have it processed within six weeks,'” Susan said. 

“That was over a year ago,” Vince said. “I don’t believe we’ve ever talked to a live person.”

IRS commissioner Charles Rettig wrote an op-ed for Yahoo Money this week saying that the agency needs help. He highlighted measures the agency has taken to combat the unprecedented confluence of a pandemic, new responsibilities like child tax credits, and returns pouring in — but also noted that the agency’s budget has shrunk by nearly 20% in the past ten years, while staffing levels remain the same as they were in the 1970s.

Mike June, 65, has been dealing with similar woes. As the executor of his mother’s estate, he filed her 2020 return early last year. Six months later he had to refile — the return he filed was sent back because he needed to use his address instead of hers.

A few months later, the “Where’s My Refund” tool on the IRS website said that the agency needed more information and provided a contact number.

But when he has called that number and entered his refund information, or tried to talk to an agent, June said, the line rings four or five times before he gets a busy signal and the call disconnects.

“It has done that every single time I have called them, and I have called no less than 20 times,” June said.

Treasury officials have said that the IRS has about one person for every 16,000 calls that it receives. 

“There’s just not really a way to overstate the stress or the workload that everyone is under,” Chad Hooper — the executive director of the Professional Managers Association, a group founded by IRS managers to improve their working conditions — told Insider. 

Returns are the final piece in closing an estate

A tax return is more than just a check for people filing on behalf of a deceased loved one — it can be the last piece before finally closing out an estate.

June had been holding open one of his mother’s accounts for the return’s direct deposit. Once it arrived, he was going to liquidate her investments and distribute them equally among him and his four brothers. 

“I waited for a year to do that. Finally, I thought, this money needs to be distributed. I cannot sit on it indefinitely,” he said.

Marino, who’s still keeping her late father’s account open, is in a similar boat. Her father has been gone for almost a year, and the tax return is the only piece left in finishing the probate.

“I did not think that almost a year later I would still be sitting here worried about all of his accounts and what’s going on,” she said. Even her attorney told her that everything should be wrapped up within a year. Instead, she’s stuck with the weight of worrying about his estate.

“It’s just a constant reminder that not only is he gone, his estate’s not finished,” she said.

The Ashcrafts are keeping open two or three bank accounts, unsure of where the return will get deposited.

“We just keep waiting and waiting, and we feel like our hands are tied — like we can’t do anything,” Susan said. “Her house has been sold, everything’s been closed up other than this one item, and it’s really frustrating.”  

Refund delays are more than just financial — they’re an emotional toll

Beyond the financial and logistical headaches, waiting on a refund for a loved one can pack an emotional punch.

“I want to take steps to move forward and not have this hanging over me all the time,” Marino said. “This money thing doesn’t matter as much as I would like to move forward and be done.”

For Vince, it’s about closure: “There’s a part of saying goodbye to a loved one that requires the whole process to end.”

He believes that the IRS has given up on them. It’s been two years of waiting, with all of the paperwork done, and he feels that he’s hit a brick wall. He said it’s taken an emotional toll.

“This really needs to just end,” he said. “That’s the biggest frustration of all. It’s not about the money. It’s about the inability to have closure with my mom’s death.”