Are You One of the 13.9 Million Americans to Receive IRS Tax Refund Interest?
If you had an overpayment on your 2019 federal income tax return, you may be receiving interest on the overpayment.
Interest payments, averaging about $18, have been made to individual taxpayers who filed a 2019 return by this year’s July 15 deadline and either received a refund in the past three months or will receive a refund. Most interest payments will be issued separately from tax refunds.
In most cases, taxpayers who received their refund by direct deposit will have their interest payment direct deposited in the same account. If you received a check, look for the notation on the check − saying “INT Amount” – which will identify it as a refund interest payment and indicate the interest amount.
By law, these interest payments are taxable and taxpayers who receive them must report the interest on the 2020 federal income tax return they file next year. In January 2021, the IRS will send a Form 1099-INT to anyone who receives interest totaling at least $10.
This year’s COVID-19-related July 15 due date is considered a disaster-related postponement of the filing deadline. Where a disaster-related postponement exists, the IRS is required, by law, to pay interest, calculated from the original April 15 filing deadline, as long as an individual files a 2019 federal income tax return by the postponed deadline − July 15, 2020, in this instance. This refund interest requirement only applies to individual income tax filers − businesses are not eligible.
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