IRS online system checks 1040EZ refund status

The IRS rolled out another part of its multiyear, multibillion-dollar modernization today when it went live with a system that lets the 6 million taxpayers who file the 1040EZ form online check the status of their refunds.Through the Internet Refund Factor of Filing system, filers can go to and key in their Social Security number or IRS individual taxpayer identification number, filing status and the refund amount, said Mike Plett, program manager with IRS’ Prime alliance.Computer Sciences Corp. is the prime contractor on the modernization project. The alliance includes IBM Corp., KPMG LLC of New York, Northrop Grumman Information Technology and Science Applications International Corp.The refund system was developed by SAIC.Once users fill in the information, the system checks the status of their returns against the 30-year-old Master File and Integrated Data Retrieval System, said Plett, who spoke at the spring meeting of the Council for Electronic Revenue Communication Advancement held in Arlington, Va. IRS then tells users the status of their refund.“The system went live at 6:15 this morning and we have received about 1,100 hits since then,” Plett said, adding the site can handle 20,000 hits per hour.Plett said that even though the filing season is over, “we will get useful information” on how the system behaves.