The IRS Says It Still Hasn’t Opened More Than 2 Million Returns This Tax Season

The Internal Earnings Service still needs to process an approximated 2.5 million tough copy tax return within a pile of unopened mail that stands at 5.3 million pieces.

That’s according to Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Charles Rettig, who testified Wednesday on the company’s efforts to remove from a mountain of unopened mail that was built up during coronavirus-related IRS office shutdowns in the spring.

Rettig talked to legislators, who have been getting an earful about the backlog. “We are speaking with our constituents right and left” about the status of returns and refunds, said Rep. Jody Hice, a Republican Politician from Georgia.

Though there’s still a method to go, the IRS has come a long method from the spring.

There was a time in the March and April duration when the Internal Revenue Service had 23 million pieces of unopened mail, Rettig kept in mind. As of late June, the Internal Revenue Service had 12.3 million pieces of mail to work through.

“I can certainly inform you our individuals are working hard,” Rettig said at the U.S. Home of Representatives’ Subcommittee on Federal Government Operations within the Committee on Oversight and Reform.

Taxation staff goes through 1.3 million pieces of mail a week, Rettig stated, and it puts a top priority on spotting difficult copy returns and processing a refund if one is due.

Rettig didn’t state the number of those still pending returns had refunds coming. But many returns result in a refund. Last year, more than 70% of returns ended with a refund for the overpayment of income tax.

The average refund this tax season was $2,741 as of late July, according to the most just recently available Internal Revenue Service data.

At that time, the IRS had received 152.8 million returns, which was up from the 146.3 million gotten at the very same time last year. (However, the 2020 statistics likewise lump in the small returns created this year when people who would not usually submit a tax return signed up with the IRS for a $1,200 stimulus check.)

By late July, the Internal Revenue Service had dispersed 3.3 million fewer refunds than it had at the exact same point last year.

This year’s tax filing and payment deadline were pressed to July 15, though taxpayers can also seek an extension up until Oct. 15.

The IRS has been juggling tax return processing with an earlier effort to churn out more than 160 million stimulus checks amounting to over $270 billion, Rettig noted. The IRS is still trying to reach approximately 9 million people who are qualified for stimulus checks however haven’t received theirs.

But some legislators stated the firm’s hard work was no complete satisfaction to constituents in their districts who are still awaiting refunds.

Hice questioned whether the IRS might tidy up the stockpile by the end of October, given its current rate.

Rettig said he could not make certain because the IRS still gets between 300,000 and 500,000 pieces of mail every week.

“I can guarantee the effort and I can guarantee the desire,” to process all the pending returns and prospective refunds, Rettig stated.

“I thank you for your effort,” Hice stated, “but effort does not resolve the problem for individuals who are waiting.”

Gerry Connolly, a Democrat from Virginia who chairs the subcommittee, said the existing lags in service are the result of an IRS budget plan that’s been cut, aging computer systems, and a workforce that’s diminished throughout the years.

“Today, when the American individuals are depending on the IRS the most, the firm is gasping for air.” He added Individuals can’t pay for to simply wait. They need this monetary help now.”