New York Times, Millions of Tax Returns Have Not Been Processed as the I.R.S. Tries to Clear Its Backlog:
Millions of 2021 taxpayer returns filed with the Internal Revenue Service have yet to be completed, and the agency is facing a larger-than-normal backlog at this point in the tax season, the Treasury Department said on Tuesday [IR-2022-128, IRS Continues Work on Inventory of Tax Returns; Original Tax Returns Filed in 2021 to be Completed This Week (June 21, 2022)].
More than twice as many tax returns await processing “compared to historical norms at this point in the calendar year,” according to a letter sent to lawmakers by top Treasury and I.R.S. officials [I.R.S. and Treasury Letter to Lawmakers (June 21, 2022)].
Wall Street Journal, IRS Is Falling Further Behind on Tax-Return Backlog, Watchdog Says:
The Internal Revenue Service faces daunting mathematical and logistical challenges in its attempt to largely eliminate its tax-return backlog by the end of 2022, an agency watchdog said Wednesday.
The backlog of unprocessed paper tax returns was 21.3 million at the end of May, up 1.3 million from a year earlier, according to Erin Collins, the national taxpayer advocate, who runs an independent taxpayer-service operation within the IRS. Agency officials have said they aimed to return the backlog to a “healthy” level in the next six months.
“Unfortunately, at this point the backlog is still crushing the IRS, its employees, and most importantly, taxpayers,” Ms. Collins wrote in a report to Congress [National Taxpayer Advocate Objectives Report To Congress Fiscal Year 2023; IR-2022-129, National Taxpayer Advocate Issues Midyear Report to Congress; Expresses Concern About Continued Refund Delays and Poor Taxpayer Service (June 22, 2022)].
Politico, Backlog of Unprocessed Tax Returns Is Growing, Watchdog Says:
The report contradicts the Biden administration’s repeated claims that it is making significant progress in catching up on the filings.
- Law360, IRS Paper Backlog Has Grown, Taxpayer Advocate Says
- Washington Post, IRS Has Backlog of 21.3 Million Paper Tax Returns, Watchdog Says
- Washington Times, Backlog Is ‘Still Crushing’ IRS, Agency’s Taxpayer Advocate Tells Congress
https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2022/06/watchdog-says-irs-backlog-of-tax-returns-is-growing-contradicting-bidens-claims-of-progress.html
