irs delayed refund to 2-19-08 why is that?

i checked the irs website last thursday it said refund by 1-29-08 and this morning i check and its says your expected refund date has been changed due to processing delays you should receive your refund by feb 19 08. what is going on now ? anyone know about this stuff? it also said "please wait until that date (2-19) to contact us again." we cannot take any action until then. please read the following information related to your tax situation. tax topic 152 refund information.

Public Comments

1. It has been ALL OVER THE NEWS... the refunds have been delayed until mid February AT THE EARLIEST... probably because the U.S. Government is BANKRUPT... they need to take in some tax money before they can pay any out.
2. Without reviewing your tax return it's impossible to say. If a significant portion of your refund is coming from the EIC it's possible that the IRS is reviewing your EIC claim. They may release a partial refund (without the EIC amount) more or less on schedule but the remainder may be delayed while your claim is evaluated. There has been massive fraud with the EIC and the IRS has been scrutinizing EIC claims much more closely due to this. If your return shows any of the tall-tale signs of potential EIC fraud, such as shifting child exemptions between taxpayers from one year to the next or large amounts of undocumented self-employment income, it's highly likely that any refund will be at least partially delayed. Edit: If they told you to read Tax Topic 152, then go and read it! It may well answer your question!
3. I got worried also, So I checked the status of mine. Per the IRS it is due to be deposited on 01/25/2008. I did not have the EIC, or any of the AMT forms. Did you prepare your taxes yourself or a professional? If a professional did them, you probably should contact them and also the IRS. Good Luck.
4. My girlfriends says the same mine was processed but i didnt have mortgage interest and i didnt itemize. Im assuming its because of what has been in the news.
5. I got the same thing when I checked the status of my return. It went from 1/25/08 to 2/18/08 I didn't have any EIC and I e-filed a 1040EZ using H&R Block online. Refund Status Results: We have received your tax return and it is being processed. Your expected refund date has been changed due to processing delays. You should receive your refund by February 19, 2008. Please wait until that date to contact us again because we cannot take any action until then. Thank you for your patience.
6. I do not think it has anything to do with what is on the news. NONE of the tax situations discussed on the news apply to single people who file a 1040EZ like myself. I am going through the same thing. I was due to get a deposit on 1/25, however the date has been reset to 2/19. I have filed for my mother and brother who both claim dependents and a very large portion of their refund comes from the EIC, they BOTH GOT THE MONEY DEPOSITED INTO THEIR ACCOUNTS ON 1/25. From years of tax preparation experience I can tell you what I think is going on. Millions of tax payers are filling online using sites like tax engine that will give you all the info you need if you have your last check stub and your employers EIN. I think we all know this, so we all filed as soon as we could. That means the IRS is backed up, now the explanation as to why my mom and brother both got the money and I didn't??? According to the IRS website the Tax Payer Advocate got in their asses about the big delay last year ( which I also got caught in) and had numbers of how many people went into forclosure waiting on a delayed refund, basically busting their chops because they continue to cause the american people stress over money we are entitiled to because they cannot update their systems in time. My guess would be she made em look bad so they are looking out for the people who claim the same dependents and same w2 info (EIN info) each year and they are releasing these returns with no problems. To the millions of single people who have no kids to claim....or change jobs or the regular.... we are forced to wait until someone can check and make sure we arent lying on our 10EZ's..... Hope this helps...... I have been going through this year after year for sometime now, and have nailed this thing to a science, if you don't believe me ask your friends with kids if they got their money if they filled already...... see what I mean.... they figure since we dont have mouths to feed we can wait.... Happy Tax Season AKA SWAG Season.....