Organized crime based both domestically and abroad are currently exploiting personal income tax return timelines to steal money from the government. This is costing us all $5-6 billion a year according to IRS estimates.
Additionally, if a taxpayer is unlucky enough to be targeted, undue burden is placed on them, an innocent party, to fix the mistake and receive the refund owed to them.
This all happens because the IRS pays refunds too quickly. Criminals will race to file fraudulent returns using stolen identities in January and February, long before an average taxpayer will complete their return. If the IRS simply delayed payment until after the return deadline of April 15, this crime would no longer be possible as multiple returns using the same tax ID could be flagged and set aside.