Late tax refunds, stimulus money and child tax credit payments frustrate families, and poor IRS communication isn’t helping

In terms of priority, amended returns fall behind originally filed returns. This, in turn, can delay other payments, including the advance child tax credit payments, because the IRS now has to reconcile the two returns. And although the agency has said it could use people’s 2019 returns to determine eligibility for the monthly child tax credit payments, once the latest return — in this case, the 2020 return — has been processed, that’s the one the IRS uses. If the two 2020 returns — the original and amended documents — are stuck in the processing pipeline for further review, then the agency can’t determine the eligibility for claimed children.