A very small percentage of taxpayers may see an 1121 reference number if they check “Where’s My Refund?” after they initially were provided a projected refund date by the tool. The IRS is aware of this situation and emphasizes that the small group of taxpayers who see this reference number should continue checking Where’s My Refund for an update. If we need more information to process their return, we will contact them — usually by mail.

Reference Code 1121 Means?

IRS Reference Code 1121 is a p-freeze which means your account has basically been frozen until further review. Many taxpayers went thru this last year and never really got any answers from the IRS. If you call the IRS and ask them if your account is frozen,…they have to tell you yes or no. If it is a freeze, you can expect a very long wait. If you are experiencing a hardship due to the delay you can request a taxpayer advocate to assist you in getting your refund released. This is due to increased enforcement by the criminal investigations unit and technically they don’t have to give you a reason for the delay…1121 is a freeze for sure! To give you an idea of how long you can expect to wait…a taxpayer from last year filed in January and was due to a refund on 1/28/15. The DDD showed up and then 24 hours after seeing a Direct Deposit Date the WMR tool displayed the 1121 Reference Code. They did not get any answers until they were referred to the taxpayer advocate. The Advocate had them send in proof of everything claimed on the tax return, this was in March. The investigator released it in April, everything was accurate and they finally received a refund in May. The reps are not equipped to really know the reason for the delay and you can expect odd answers depending on the day you call and who you speak to. The only way to know for sure is to ask if it is a p-freeze….if so then you need to gather your documents now because they will request them. I do tend to think this is a problem for early filers because it happened to multiple taxpayers last year who filed early. The best advice is to wait until the middle of February to file.

This year, it’s Internal Revenue Service code 1121 that’s popping up when some taxpayers check on their refund via the agency’s “Where’s My Refund?” online tracking tool.

Taxpayers across the country report that when they filed, they got a confirmation of a refund. But a few days later when they checked on the status of their money, they got the numerical error notice.

Unfortunately, calls by those filers to the IRS produced confusing answers. So the IRS has issued an official statement about the error code.

Not an audit code

The good news is that an 1121 message does not mean you are being audited. That’s just a rumor that’s going around the Internet.

“This code is simply a reference number that our telephone representatives use to help them research your account,” the IRS says on its website. If the IRS needs more information from code-affected filers in order to process their returns, it will contact the taxpayers, usually by mail.

The IRS isn’t saying just how many of the more than 27 million returns it has received in just the first week of filing season are affected by the code. It’s only characterizing the 1121 returns as a “very small percentage of taxpayers.”

Of course, if you are in that group, it doesn’t seem like a small problem.

Don’t worry and keep calling

The IRS says not to worry. I know, easier said than done.

But veteran tax preparers say that the 1121 error is not unusual. It’s typically an internal processing issue.

Now that the IRS knows the digits are being issued on some returns, it’s working to determine whether it’s a glitch or whether it does indeed need more info from some taxpayers.

Use the thread below to discuss IRS Reference Code 1121. Connect with others that have an 1121 and keep us updated on what you find out!