The Treasury Department warns that IRS delays are ahead
Budget cuts, staffing shortages, and federal Covid relief have plagued the agency.
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Even though tax filing season is just around the corner (opening January 24 with an April 18 deadline), the typically joyful and charismatic IRS has a case of the blues. On Monday, the Treasury Department warned that the agency has had a rough year and taxpayers should expect delays as returns are processed.
According to Treasury officials, budget cuts and pandemic-related staffing shortages have created a towering backlog at the agency, and a “frustrating season” is on the horizon. While the IRS typically enters filing season with about 1 million unaddressed returns, the number stood at around 8.6 million in mid-Nov. 2021.
What happened?
- The pandemic forced many in-person processing centers to close.
- Pre-pandemic budget cuts to the IRS led to a roughly 25% reduction in its staff.
- Federal Covid relief, like stimulus payments and the expanded Child Tax Credit, added more work to the IRS’s plate.
Resources are so strained that, in the first half of last year, there was one IRS staffer to handle every 16,000 calls to the agency.
What can you do? Those seeking a speedier turnaround should file early, file online, and request their refund via direct deposit, the Treasury said.—MK
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