It's been 19 months for woman waiting on $686 tax refund after dad's death. How to speed up getting what you're owed

Core Insights - The article highlights the emotional and financial strain families face when dealing with the death of a loved one, particularly regarding the processing of final tax returns and refunds [1] Group 1: Tax Refund Delays - The IRS processed 609,953 manual refunds for deceased taxpayers from January 2021 to July 2024, taking an average of 444 calendar days to issue these refunds [3] - In 440,443 cases where a refund was due, 43% were outstanding for one to two years, and 9% were outstanding for more than two years, contrasting with the typical 21-day processing time for electronically filed Form 1040 returns [4] - A common bottleneck in the refund process is the Form 1310, which is required for claiming refunds due to deceased taxpayers [4][5] Group 2: Processing Challenges - Previously, Form 1310 had to be filed in paper format, leading to significant processing delays due to manual handling [6] - If an IRS employee requested additional information, the response time could average three weeks to be routed back to the employee, further complicating the refund process [6]