Are you experiencing delays with the IRS tax return? Still waiting on a response on a request made to the IRS? The IRS is behind and struggling to catch up due to staff shortages and increased work brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration recently released a report that indicated that more than 8.3 million tax returns and transactions remained to be processed by the end of 2020. A recent IRS report acknowledged that they have over 17 million unprocessed individual tax returns as of April 30, 2021. As we have shared with our Blog Readers previously, the IRS returned from the Stay Home orders to millions of pieces of mail.
The IRS is unable to catch up currently – they need additional Staff to help address the backlog and remain understaffed at this time. As of March 2021, the IRS had over 4,000 open processing positions that remain unfiled. The IRS is also understaffed on phone line personnel. A recent IRS report to TIGTA indicated that IRS service workers provided a 27.3% level of service to callers, taking an average of 18 minutes to answer calls.
If you are currently waiting on the IRS, you are not alone, and you should plan to continue waiting. Until the IRS fully staffs its offices and addresses the backlog, delays are imminent. Need help navigating through the IRS’ delays? Contact our office today to see how Bryson Law Firm, LLC may be able to assist you.