Tax Refunds Delayed. Want to Know Why?

If you are expecting a refund of some of your 2014 tax withholdings, the Internal Revenue Service commissioner says it is likely you will have to wait longer than usual.

But it's not the IRS's fault. It is because Congress has done nothing about renewing or otherwise dealing with provisions in the tax code that have expired. Until it does, the IRS does not know what's in and what's out, and that delays software patching and the design and release of forms and instructions you need to apply for a refund.

We know why Congress has not acted, of course. They were too busy winning re-election as a reward for the jobs they haven't done. If your refund is in fact delayed, be sure to write or phone your Congress members your thanks for putting themselves first.

Having produced only 142 pieces of legislation, this year's Congress is the least productive on record. They as usual took full week holidays where we take one day (e.g., Easter, 4th of July), took five weeks off from August into September (they call their recesses “district work periods”), and then immediately vanished for 53 more days until returning a week after election day.

Interviewed on MSNBC a couple of weeks ago, Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz ventured the opinion that there was really no point to the lame-duck session of Congress just now beginning. The minuscule number of newcomers who begin their terms in January should be given the opportunity to have their say. His idea would have added another two months of idleness.

By its own admission, Congress has been in session only 119 days so far and even that number is suspect. The calendar on the Congress website shows a number of Fridays as working days. But Congress is infamous for not showing up until Tuesdays and Mitch McConnell in his press conference the day after the election was honest enough to say, "I don't think we've had any votes on Friday in anybody's memory".

Is it any wonder that voter turnout was the lowest percentage since 1942 — a year when we were overseas fighting World War II. Why take off from work to vote for senators and representatives who don't show up for work?