Melissa Burgess, whose father died in 2018 This is the last piece of the puzzle for my father’s estate. How am I still having to deal with this three years later? Quote icon But Burgess, who lives in Buffalo, New York, is still waiting on her father’s 2017 tax refund from the IRS. And the pandemic has made it even more challenging for her and her sister to get in contact with the agency since it has been overwhelmed by sweeping tax code changes even as it sends stimulus checks to millions. “It’s been very frustrating,” says Burgess, 30, who is a clerk at a local library. “If the pandemic hadn’t happened, then maybe things would be resolved by now.”