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Manual Refunds

Internal Revenue Manual Part 3. Submission Processing · 2026-10-03 edition · updated 2026-10-04 · United States

A manual refund is an IDRS generated refund request (TC 840). It is exception processing. When possible, allow the system to generate the TC 846 refund as appropriate. Do not initiate a manual refund if a generated refund will be released within (2) cycles except under conditions outlined in IRM 21.4.4.3, Why Would A Manual Refund Be Needed?,.

Thorough analysis of the case is required before requesting a manual refund as it can greatly increase the possibility of a duplicate refund situation and can increase the processing cost of issuing a refund to the taxpayer.

Refer to the Manual Refund Decision Table below for assistance in determining whether a manual refund is appropriate.

If

Then

A refund must be issued before or instead of computer generated refunds (TC 846) as outlined in IRM 21.4.4.3, Why Would a Manual Refund Be Needed?,.

Issue a manual refund.

A refund was intercepted to verify unclaimed payments; the documents were unavailable and the taxpayer did not respond to requests for clarification

Issue a manual refund for the substantiated payments if needed after following Credit Discrepancy - Excess Credits, IRM 3.14.2.6.7.2.

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▸Contents — Internal Revenue Manual Part 3. Submission Processing
Internal Revenue Manual Part 3. Submission Processing

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