The IRS Remains Plagued by Issues After “The Most Challenging Year” Yet
Astute blog followers will recall that we begrudgingly sang the IRS’s praises a few months ago when they launched their shockingly useful new Online Tax Portal. Credit where it’s due, was our thinking. Cautious optimism. Well, like a river flows to the sea, the IRS has screwed everything up. Hot on the heels of a bewildering back and forth about the Online Portal’s use of third party facial scans comes a slew of bad press that boils down to: The IRS is understaffed, underfunded, overwhelmed, and they’d like us to all be very patient with them.
Maybe you saw the confusing messaging on the Child Tax Credit, the massive backlog of unprocessed ERC payments, the National Taxpayer Advocate’s Annual Report to Congress calling 2021 “the most challenging year taxpayers and tax professionals have ever experienced,” or you’ve just heard the accountants in your life expressing their outrage (respectfully and politely, of course) over how impossible it’s been to get a hold of anyone over there - the National Taxpayer Advocate says the IRS answered just 3% of taxpayer calls in 2021.
The latest evidence of this rapidly expanding problem comes with the news that the IRS has suspended most of its automated notices (automated letters to taxpayers such as balance due notices, unfiled tax returns, etc) while they work through their massive already existing backlog of old, unprocessed tax returns. This bandaid of a measure should help soothe taxpayer anxieties, if not address the still growing issue of an IRS that is ill equipped to handle its sole responsibility. (Note that, of course, interest and penalties will continue to accrue!)
So… not a great situation over there, to be blunt! What does this mean for you? The long and short of it is that we’re just as frustrated as you are, and that it’s even more important than ever that we help you to cross every t and dot every i if you’re hoping to receive your return promptly.
Harmony Group is more confident than ever in our outstanding team of tax professionals, and less confident than ever in the IRS’s capacity to serve taxpayers - expect some delays, but don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any confusion about your return this year or are waiting on information you believe you should’ve already received. Stay tuned to our newsletter and to the blog for up to date info - who knows, we might even get some good news, and we’ll be eager to report on it!