Still Got It

Processing 2019 was important not only for
the refund but for the carryovers to 2020.

The Hawaii trip began with a pleasant surprise: Mom's 2019 Federal tax refund was waiting in the mailbox, after a delay of almost two years.

The last contact with the Internal Revenue Service had been in September, when the Service wrote that the refund should be received sometime in November, 2021.

The subsequent four-month delay was disappointing but not unexpected given the agency's ongoing troubles. Well, at least the IRS paid Mom 3% interest--taxable in 2022, of course--which is much higher than the interest paid on her bank account. The receipt of the refund holds out hope that the IRS will get around to processing her 2020 return soon, just in time to accept her 2021 return which I will file in the coming week.

The eight-day trip had two main objectives: 1) visit Mom, 92, every day in her assisted-living facility; 2) complete her 2021 income tax returns and have her sign them. (The returns are not that easy because she has a business that my brothers run for her, and the records have multiple sources.)

To everyone's surprise, including mine, I accomplished both objectives. Hah! Still got it.