The Washington Post - USA (2022-03-27)

SUNDAY,MARCH 27 , 2022 .THEWASHINGTONPOST EZ EE G3

the Putin regime.

“The sanctions we have in

placearemeant to starve the

Russianeconomy,”said Schottof

the PetersonInstitute.“Butthe

exceptionsfor oil and gas imports

intoEuropeare alargefeeding

tubethat’skeepingthe Russian

economyafloat.”

Butgapsin the wallare clos-

ing.

“Europeis dependenton Rus-

sianoil and gas today, but already

has announcedplansto weanoff

agoodshareof its gas imports

fromRussiain the comingyear,”

Schottsaid. “Russia’sleverageon

energywillerodeovertime.

pursuinginterestand penalty

charges,”saysEricBronnenkant,

headof tax for the online

financialadviserBetterment.

TheIRS can attemptto collect

yourtaxesup to 10 yearsfrom

the date theywere assessed,he

noted.

Whyhaven’t Ireceivedmy

refundbasedonthe

unemploymenttaxbreak?

To helpthe millionsof people

whofiled for unemploymentin

2020,Congressincludedatax

breakfor unemployment

benefits in the AmericanRescue

Plan.Peoplecouldexcludeup to

$10,200fromtheirgrossincome

if theirmodified adjusted gross

incomewas less than$150,000.

Formarriedcouplesfilingajoint

tax return,wherebothspouses

receivedbenefits, the $10,200tax

breakwas for eachspouse.

By the timeCongresspassed

the tax break,millionsof people

had alreadyfiled theirtax

returns.So the IRS saidit would

automaticallysendrefunds.

TheIRS saidit has already

issuedmorethan11.8 million

refundstotaling$14.5 billion

related to the tax break.But

thereare still returnsbeing

processed.Theagencysaid it is

continuingto review2020

returnsand processcorrections

for peoplewhopaidtaxeson the

excludedunemployment

income.“Sometaxpayerswill

receiverefunds,whileotherswill

have the overpaymentappliedto

taxesdue or otherdebts,”the IRS

said.

Ihaven’t filedfederalreturns

forseveralyears,butI’m

prettysureIamduerefunds.

CanIfiletogettherefunds?

TheIRS saidit has unclaimed

incometax refundsworth almost

$1.5billionfor an estimated

1.5 milliontaxpayerswhonever

filed afederal returnfor 2018.

There’s onlyathree-year

windowto claimrefunds.To

claimthe refundfor the 2018 tax

year,the deadlineis April18 for

mostfolks,and April19 in Maine

and Massachusetts. If you’re

owedarefundbasedon your

2018 return,the IRS saidthe

moneymay be heldif you have

not filed tax returnsfor 2019 and

2020.By the way, thereis no

penaltyfor filinglate whenyou

are owedarefund.

theirreturnfiled lastyear,IRS

CommissionerCharlesRettig

saidin testimonytothe House

Ways and Means Committee.

Other returns needfurther

reviewbecauseofanissue related

tothe advancechildtax credit.

To checkthe status of your

refund,use the “Where’s My

Refund?”toolatirs.gov.

ShouldIcalltheIRSif it’s

takenmorethan 21 daysto

receivemyrefund?

Callingwon’t do much,other

thanraise yourbloodpressure.

It’s hard to reachalive person.

Andeven if you do, the IRS says

thatunless“Where’s My

Refund?”directed you to call the

agency, representativeswon’t be

ableto provideanyadditional

information.

CanIuse‘Where’s My

Refund?’tocheckthestatus

ofmy 2020 refund?

Unfortunately, the refundtool

usually displays the status of

yourmostrecently filedtax

return within the pasttwo tax

years,accordingto the IRS.So if

your2021return has been

processed, it won’tshowthe

status of the previousyear’s

refund.

TheIRS says for returnsfiled

on or after July 1, refund

informationremainsavailable

untilyou file atax returnfor a

morecurrenttax year.

ShouldIwaittofileif my

2020 returnandrefund

haven’t beenprocessed?

TheIRS says don’t waitto file,

especiallyif you owefor 2021.

Peoplewhosetax returnsfrom

2020 have not yetbeen

processedshouldstill file their

2021 tax returnsby the Aprildue

date or requestanextension,the

agencysaid.

Ifiledanamendedreturnand

wasexpectingarefund.Why

haven’t Ireceivedmymoney?

Whenit comesto processing

returns,especiallyduringthe

middleof atax season,amended

returns—Form 1040 -X —aren’t

prioritized.

As of March 12, the IRS saidit

had 2.2 millionunprocessed

1040 -Xs.

Youmay be worriedthatyour

returnis lost, but the IRSsays

you shouldn’t file asecond

amendedreturn —doing so may

delay the processingeven further.

Youshould just keep checking the

“Where’sMyAmendedReturn?”

toolfor themostup-to-date

status availableofyourreturn.

TheIRSalwaystakesmy

refundeveryyear.Isthere

anythingIcando?

“Itispossiblethatthe IRS is still

Forsome
Americans,this
year’s tax season
was easy.They
filed
electronically,
elected to have
theirmoneysent
by directdeposit
to theirbank
accountand,
withinthree
weeksor less,gottheir refund.
TheIRS saidthat, as of March
18, it had issuedmorethan
52 millionrefundsworth more
than$171 billion,withthe
averagecheck totaling$3,305.
But for others, amassive
returnbackloghas delayed
refundsor heldup the processing
of returnsthatwere refiled by
taxpayersbecauseacorrection or
otherchangeneededto be made.
Withaboutthreeweeksleft in
the 2022filingseason,which
beganJan. 24,here’s whatyou
needto knowaboutwhyyour
returnmayhavebeen delayed:

Ifiledmytaxreturnweeks
ago,sowhereismyrefund?

If all goes welland you file
electronicallyand choosedirect
depositfor yourrefund—the
fastestway —your moneyshould
arrivein yourbankaccount
within21 days, accordingto the
IRS.
TheIRS says it is prioritizing
returnswithrefundsoverthose
whereataxpayer owesmoneyto
Uncle Sam.
But thereare several reasons
yourrefundmaybedelayed.
It couldbe stuck in a
processingqueueif you file a
paperreturn.As of March 11, the
IRS saidit had 7million
unprocessedindividualreturns.
Theagencyisstill tryingto catch
up on abacklogbecauseof the
pandemic.
“It’stakingus longer than
normalto processmailed
correspondenceand morethan
21 days to issuerefundsfor
certainmailedand e-filed 2020
tax returnsthatrequirereview,”
the agencysaid.
Your returnmaybe
incomplete or have amatherror
requiringamanualreview. Your
return couldhave beenflagged
as fraudulentbecauseof identity
theft or fraud.
Somereturnsare taking
longer becauseof corrections
neededthatare related to the
earned-incometax creditand the
pandemic-related stimulus
payments(officiallytermeda
“RecoveryRebate Credit”).
TheIRS has received“far
morethan10 millionreturns”in
whichtaxpayersfailedto
reconcilethe twostimulus
paymentstheywere sentin 2020
to the amounttheystated on

Still waiting for your tax refund?

Here are some reasons it might be late.

Michelle
Singletary

THECOLOR
OFMONEY

Sources:Trade Data Monitor,Castellum.ai THE WASHINGTON POST

Note:2021isestimated basedonthe monthsfor whichnumbersare available.

ThoughChina leads withimports to Russia, the

majority of goods comefromcountries that have

imposedsanctions

Annual value of imports to Russia

2000 2005 2010 2015 2020

Netherlands

Italy

Poland

Belarus

Germany

China

Othercountries

Othercountries

Imports fell following

sanctionsfor Russia’s

annexation of Crimea

Anysanctions

No sanctions

$74B

$68B

South Korea

of doingbusinesswithan inter-

nationalpariahare likely to be

scaredaway by the prospectof

getting paid in increasingly

worthlessrubles.

Nationsthataren’t scaredoff

will still struggle to gettheir

goodsto Russia,as firmsrepre-

senting30 to 50 percentof global

shipping capacityhavealready

boycotted the country, according

to economistJudah Levineof

Freightos,aglobalfreight-book-

ing platform.

Russia’shopes for surviving

sanctionslie primarilywithChi-

na, whichnowfindsitselfwith

substantial leverageoverits

northern neighbor.China, the

world’s leadingexporter,supplies

aboutone-quarter of Russia’sim-

ports. Most aren’t subjecttosanc-

tions.

China’ssprawling manufactur-

ing sector couldreplacesomeof

the U.S. and Europeangoods that

hadbeenheadingto Russiabut

are nowblocked, saidMary Love-

ly, seniorfellowat the Peterson

Institutefor InternationalEco-

nomics.Thecountryalreadysup-

pliesalargeportionof Russia’s

machineryand electronics.But

replacementsaren’t always possi-

ble, especiallyfor the highest-

techgoods,andthere’s no guar-

anteeChina will be willingto sell

them.Even if China is willing,

creating,producinganddeliver-

ing specific replacements will

takeChinatimethatRussiamay

not have.

China also supplies Russia

with the vast majority of its furs,

thatbeingone of the onlyproduct

categorieswhereRussia is the

dominant consumer market.

Nearlyone-thirdof theworld’s

fur trade goes to Russia.

Meanwhile,China is fairlyin-

dependentfromRussia,sincethe

Russian market accounts for

2percentof China’sglobalex-

ports. Withthe value of Russia’s

currencydropping, it’s not clear

Chinesesupplierswill wantto do

business there even when it’s

legallyallowed, saidPhilLevy,

chiefeconomistofFlexport, a

globallogistics platform.

“Russiais going to be avery

difficult place to do business,”

Levy said. “Even without any

explicit threatfromthe West,

thoseconditionsin Russia—a

swingingcurrencyand banking

problems—mightmakeChinese

companiescautious.”

To be sure,the economicwall

aroundRussiais not impregna-

ble. Russia retainssignificantlev-

erageoverEuropebecauseof its

vast petroleumreserves.Eastern

oil andgas are still flowinginto

keyEuropeanmarketsfor now

andcontinueto generatebillions

of dollars in foreign currency

eachweek,afinanciallifelinefor

siansocialmediachannelsare

floodedwithpicturesof empty

shelvesin supermarketsand vid-

eos of peoplescramblingto buy

bagsof sugarand grains.”

“All of this alreadyis havingan

impactonthe Russianeconomy,”

saidJeff Schott, whotrackssanc-

tionsandtradefor the Peterson

Institutefor InternationalEco-

nomics. “The ruble has fallen

throughthe floor.Interestrates

are high. Inflation is soaring.

Imported goods are basically

hardto find andare notbeing

restocked becausenobodyis sell-

ing to Russiafor fearthatthey

will not getpaid —oronlypaid in

rubles.”

Russiais the world’s 11th-larg-

esteconomy. If it were aU.S.state,

Russia’stotaleconomicoutput

would have ranked fourth in

2020, behind California, Texas

andNewYork,and justaheadof

Florida.Imports makeupone-

fifthofits grossdomestic prod-

uct. Many of thoseimports are

nowat risk as Russia has,in short

order,come to face ahigher

numberof sanctions thanany

othercountry, according to Cas-

tellum.ai.

Russia’scontributionsto the

globaleconomyskewtowardraw

materialsthat, withafew notable

exceptions suchas petroleum,

nickel and palladium(usedin car

parts), canbe replacedby com-

moditiesfromelsewherein the

world,aWashington Post analy-

sis of Trade Data Monitorfigures

shows.

In additionto the explicitsanc-

tions,restrictionsbuiltintothe

coreof the globalfinancialand

trade systemsare alsomakingit

harder formostcountries to

tradewith Russia.Major global

banksarereluctant to finance

Russia-related deals—Goldman

Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and

DeutscheBankhave all saidthey

are windingdownbusinessthere

—and thosefirms not spooked by

sanctionsor the reputationalcost

Russia spends$11.5billionannu-
allyon its largestimport, cars,
accordingto Trade Data Monitor.
Germany, SouthKorea and Japan
leadthe market,supplying 63
percentof Russia’smotorvehi-
cles.But theywould lose only
about3percentof theirinterna-
tionalbusinessif theystop selling
to Russia.
Russianairlinestypicallyde-
pendon BoeingandAirbusjets.
Andwithoutaerospaceimports,
Russiarisksrunningout of the
specializedparts neededto main-
tain them —parts thatcan’t
always be obtainedfromthird-
party suppliers.
All in all, morethanhalfof the
goodsandservicesflowinginto
Russia comefrom46 or more
countriesthathaveimposed
sanctions or traderestrictions,
withthe UnitedStates andEuro-
peanUnion leadingthe way, ac-
cordingto Castellum.ai.Theeco-
nomic barriersremain porous,
but the West is steadilyplugging
the gaps—addingmorethan 400
politicians, elites and defense
firmsto the sanctionslistThurs-
day.
In atelevised speech this
month,adefiantRussianPresi-
dentVladimirPutin seemedto
acknowledgethe country’schal-
lenges. He saidthe widespread
sanctions would force difficult
“deepstructural changes in our
economy” but vowedthatRussia
wouldovercome“the attemptsto
organizean economicblitzkrieg.”
“Itisdifficult for us at the
moment,”Putinsaid. “Russian
financialcompanies, majoren-
terprises, small- and medium-
sizedbusinessesare facingun-
precedentedpressure.”
Indeed,Russianconsumersare
feeling economicpressure.For
example,therehave beenwide-
spreadreports of panicbuyingin
Russiansupermarkets, according
to the FinancialTimes,as “Rus-

SANCTIONSFROMG1

Economic barriers on Russia remain porous, but the West is plugging the gaps

Sources:Trade Data Monitor,Castellum.ai THE WASHINGTON POST

Russiareliesoncountriesthathave imposed

sanctionsfor itscars, machineryand other

manufactured goods

Value of imported productsby sourcecountry

fromNov.2020throughOct.2021

Germany

South Korea

Poland

Italy

Netherlands

Othercountries

China

Belarus

Othercountries

Other

Machinery and

electrical

equipment

Vehicles,aircraft,

vessels

Chemicalproducts

and pharmaceuticals

Plasticand

rubbergoods

Basemetal goods

The 46 countriesthat

enacted sanctions

exported $139B

in goods to Russia

52 countries have

not levied sanctions

againstRussia

ALEXEYMALGAVKO/REUTERS

Russianoil andgasstillflowintokeyEuropeanmarketsfornow

andcontinuetogeneratebillionsofdollarsinforeigncurrency.

If you have apersonalfinance

questionfor Michelle,pleasecall 1-

855-ASK-POST(1-855-275-7678). Her

award-winningcolumnTheColor of

Moneyis syndicatedby The

WashingtonPost NewsService and

Syndicateand carriedin dozensof

newspapers.

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