DETROIT (WWJ) — Although the U.S. is already weeks into the 2022 tax filing season, nearly 24 million taxpayers are still waiting for the Internal Revenue Service to process returns they filed last year.
This number is “far larger” than previous estimates reported by the agency, according to The Washington Post, and many filings have been held up for 10 months or longer. The backlog is expected to slow down the current tax season too.
Last month, the Treasury Department warned that the IRS tax response would be subpar this year.
Information about the unprocessed requests was provided to tax-writing committees in Congress the IRS taxpayer advocate service, said The Post. Included in the 23.7 million unprocessed returns are 9.7 million paper returns; 4.1 million returns that were suspended because of errors with stimulus payments, pandemic relief or other issues; 4.1 million amended returns and 5.8 million pieces of correspondence that need action before returns can be completed.
“We are concerned about the existing delays and backlogs facing the [IRS] and the toll it is taking on American taxpayers,” said a Thursday letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig signed by 30 Republican senators. “While we understand that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the IRS, we are concerned about our constituents’ ability to have their returns processed accurately and efficiently.
We are also alarmed by reports from taxpayers who cannot resolve their tax problems because the IRS is unresponsive.”
People who spoke to The Post on the condition of anonymity said that returns remain unprocessed as the IRS struggles to hire and train new staff. As of August, there was an estimated IRS staffing deficiency of around 2,598 employees, said a report released Monday.
While the agency sought to fill 5,000 positions for this tax season, it ended up hiring less than 200, said National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins. Officials are even offering $500 referral bonuses to employees if a new hire stays in the job for a year.
The IRS report released Monday also identifies inefficient practices and old equipment as blocks preventing the agency from issuing timely refunds.
“This entire ecosystem of pending cases gives the public a fuller picture of what the IRS is up against,” said Chad Hooper, executive director of the nonprofit Professional Managers Association, which represents hundreds of IRS managers. “And it’s a crazy number before most people have filed their taxes for this year.”
Suspension of some tax collections is being considered along with excusing some penalty enforcement to move the process along. This week, the IRS also announced it would suspend some letters and automated collection notices.
Despite the suspension, some taxpayers are still facing penalties that they have contested.
“They’re sitting on somebody’s desk who cannot come into the office,” said Nina Tross, executive director of the National Society of Tax Professionals, of the issue. “We’re hitting all of these roadblocks and it’s just not good enough.”
“The IRS’s recent statement that it would stop sending certain automated notices until it processes its current paper tax inventory is progress, but there is more to be done,” said the Republican lawmakers’ letter, which called the situation “untenable.”
However, as those senators bemoan the backlog, other members of the Republican party are working to block any new federal aid that might help the agency, said The Post. Additionally, the letter did not propose any spending measures to speed up the work.
According to a September blog post from the Congressional Budget Office, portions of a Biden administration proposal to increase funding for the IRS by $80 billion over the 2022–2031 period would increase revenues by approximately $200 billion over those 10 years.
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