After wading one's way through the time-consuming paperwork necessary to file 2020 taxes, those who are in line for a refund are understandably eager to receive the money. 

But this tax season, many Americans find themselves frustrated as they wait weeks, or even months, for refunds that they were told would arrive within 21 days. 

A recent Forbes article investigated the nationwide issue and discovered that the seeming delay appears to boil down to the fact that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is swamped.

As the federal agency struggles to manage pandemic-related processing issues and last-minute changes from the latest tax credits approved by the Biden administration, it's understandable that delays in doling out tax refunds have become a possibility. 

In 2020, the pandemic forced the IRS to close its offices for a time, and now, federal agents are still catching up on a backlog of unprocessed paper 2019 tax returns in addition to a large number of 2020 tax returns that are being submitted.

This means the IRS will take longer than usual to review newly filed tax returns, which means there will be a delay in issuing refunds.

In normal years, most tax refunds filed electronically are issued within 21 days, but this year, there may be a delay in the receipt of refunds due to the pandemic.

To be sure, taxpayers can contact the IRS and check the status of their refund, or do so via the Where’s My Refund webpage, or by downloading the IRS2Go app.

Dealing with delays this tax season may require an extra dose of patience, and hopefully next tax season will see less issues.

In this regard, Forbes recommends filers do their part to prevent refund delays in 2022 by filing online in a timely manner. 

Taxpayers might consider filing online either through the IRS Free File or Free File Fillable Forms.

Upon filing online, users will receive a quick confirmation that their return was either accepted or rejected. The email confirmation often occurs in just a few minutes and users can also enter their bank account information to receive a direct deposit of their refund or to make a payment online.

In any case, as the nation appears to move towards herd immunity and away from the COVID-19 health crisis, many hope that pandemic-related financial problems will soon be a thing of the past.