https://thehill.com/policy/finance/560973-irs-ended-filing-season-with-35m-unprocessed-tax-returns
Years of budget cuts—driven by Republicans over the agency’s extra scrutiny of conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status—have forced the IRS to scale back its workforce by tens of thousands of employees. At the same time, the IRS’s responsibilities have increased
An eight-year campaign to slash the agency’s budget has left it understaffed, hamstrung and operating with archaic equipment. The result: billions less to fund the government. That’s good news for corporations and the wealthy.
etc.
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And with the resources they do have, they try to get the best bang for their buck. Unfortunately, that translates into concentrating scrutiny on people who don’t make a lot of money. Their mistakes are easy to find, and they don’t have the money to fight back.
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An eight year campaign to slash the budget. There’ has been several administrations, of both political parties, in the last eight years.
What is currently being done to address these issues? I would speculate that WFH, covid, added duties regarding the IRS involvement in stimulus payments, etc, etc, have all contributed to the “mess”.
I received a letter several weeks ago that I need to call the IRS to verify my identity. My accountant said it is a legitimate letter. However, I’ve called several times daily, and am always told to call back the next day. Quite annoying
For us, it was better in 2021 than 2020. In 2020, we didn’t get our refund until October…We filed in early April. For good reasons, we needed to do a paper mail in return…and apparently it sat and sat and sat waiting to be processed.
I will say…both years, we did mail in to our state and had our refund within a week. If the state can do it, it shows that it’s possible.
Yes, IRS is a mess. I started writing about our situation but it’s long and complicated and I eventually deleted it. Totally agree that they are understaffed which has led to things not being done in a timely manner (which is an understatement ). I can’t stand dealing with the IRS.
Last AUGUST, our CPA submitted a request for a PIN from the IRS since my husband’s identity was compromised along with many others during the unemployment filing request flurry during COVID. Every couple of months, we get another letter saying they are still working on it. I’m thankful we were able to file our return before any scammer did this spring, but geez. How hard it is to assign a PIN??