01/27/2022

Tax Alert: IRS Faces Backlogs This Filing Season

To avoid refund delays, the IRS is urging electronic filings

Tax filing season is off and running as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) begins to accept 2021 income tax returns from businesses and individuals. However, the IRS still continues to weed through millions of correspondence and tax returns filed from last year. So how does this affect your 2021 tax returns?

Backlog Problems and Refund Delays

Last year, the IRS had a backlog of 35 million returns that required manual processing. As a result, the IRS has stated they still have a lot of correspondence that hasn't even been opened from last year as the agency is understaffed and has more work than it can handle. In fact, according to Erin Collins with the National Taxpayer Advocate, the IRS’ budget has declined by about 20 percent in the past 10 years while the number of tax returns filed has gone up 13 percent.

To avoid refund delays, the IRS is urging Americans to electronically file or e-file and request direct deposit when filing their 2021 tax returns, and to do so as soon as possible to avoid delays in processing and receiving refunds.

Please select this link to read the complete article from OSAP Member VonLehman CPA & Advisory Firm.