IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig on Tuesday warned Americans that they could face delays receiving their tax returns from last year, urging taxpayers to begin preparing their taxes ahead of the April deadline.
Rettig said in an op-ed for Yahoo News that millions of Americans are still waiting on their tax returns from 2021, but assured taxpayers that operation will return to normal before 2023.
IRS chief warns of ‘enormous challenges’ this tax-filing season https://t.co/eJNz9R7jGe
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“We have taken extraordinary measures to work through unprocessed returns and correspondence, including mandatory overtime by IRS employees, creating and redirecting surge teams to address the inventories, temporarily suspending certain automated compliance notices and, where possible, modernizing operating systems to accelerate the manual processing of inventories,” he wrote.
“Millions are waiting for their returns to be processed, and many won’t be able to reach us when they call with questions this filing season. This is frustrating for taxpayers and for us,” Rettig added. “We want to do more, but we face great challenges.”
The commissioner cited COVID19-related issues for the worker shortage, as well as the implementation of stimulus programs and lack of congressional funding which could lead to delays in processing tax returns.
“I want you to know that our employees are committed to do everything possible with an all hands on deck approach to get people the help that they need,” Rettig said.
The agency is currently understaffed, with 20,000 fewer personnel than it did in 2010 and budget that is 20% less than it was in the same year. More than 20% of the IRS workforce has also been unable to work due to pandemic-related health reasons since 2020.
“Without long-term, predictable funding, the IRS will continue to face severe limitations, unable to provide the service taxpayers deserve and need,” the commissioner added.
The deadline for filing taxes is on April 18 for most Americans. Taxpayers in Maine and Massachusetts have until April 19 to file their taxes due to Patriots’ Day conflicting with the national tax-filing deadline.
Taxpayers can request an extension by filling out Form 4868 on the IRS website. The form needs to be submitted or mailed to their local IRS address by April 18.
