Tips From A Tax Scholar – Taxpayers Should Expect Serious Delays From The IRS This Year But Says Only Congress Can Fix The Underlying Problem
No one likes tax season. It’s complicated, it’s stressful, and it’s getting worse.
Last year was already the “most challenging year taxpayers and tax professionals have ever experienced,” according to the Taxpayer Advocate Service, an independent part of the Internal Revenue Service. According to the agency’s annual report, taxpayers had trouble reaching the IRS, tax returns took months to process, almost a quarter of refunds didn’t go out until 2022, and collection notices were sent out even after the tax owed was paid.
The pandemic deserves some of the blame, but so do years of underfunding the IRS, antiquated computer systems and a dwindling workforce.
And with millions of returns from 2021 still waiting to be processed, 2022 may be worse. That prospect has prompted lawmakers and oth...