IRS backlog
Only yourselves to blame
IT’S GETTING to be that time again. In the next week, millions of Americans will file their tax returns. Or try to. This year, April 15 falls on a holiday, so Americans will be given until the next Monday, April 18, before the deadline closes in. Like a fog.
Like people everywhere, Americans love to complain about taxes. And there’s lots to complain about when you see government wasting money. But one of the big problems with paying taxes in the United States is that it’s so hard. Especially when filing yearly returns. And you have to swear, on the penalty of perjury if you’re wrong, that every line is correct! No wonder so many of us go to a professional for help.
That is, a professional tax preparer. Not the professionals at the IRS.
The commissioner of the IRS told a congressional committee last week that his agency only answers the phone about 19 percent of the time. Imagine the frustration of trying to give your money to an agency that won’t even answer the phone. Somebody tell us this isn’t a government operation.
“The IRS is serving more people and entities in a global environment than ever before while handling new and bigger responsibilities,” Charles Rettig complained to the Senate Finance Committee. “At the same time, we have experienced delays in updating our IT systems, which means the IRS and taxpayers must continue to use certain paper-based processes.”
According to The Washington Times, he blamed the ongoing fallout from covid, as well as the huge number of taxpayers who still file handwritten returns, for the slow work at the IRS. So it’s your own fault, fellow Americans.
The article went on: “IRS officials say that the majority of its problems result from taxpayers’ continued reliance on filing returns in paper format, rather than virtually. Paper returns have to be reviewed by staff and hand-scanned into the agency’s system for refunds to be processed. They blame the handwritten return for causing a massive backlog. As of March, the IRS had still not processed more than 12 million tax returns from the previous year. The backlog will impact the ability of the IRS to process this year’s tax returns, especially if filed in a paper format.”
Twelve million! From last year! No telling what that number will be this time in 2023.
Republicans say this backlog can’t be placed at the feet of American taxpayers. The IRS, they say, is to blame.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, (R-Iowa), said the Infernal Revenue Service has been given $4.5 billion since 1999 to modernize. Instead, the agency is using some systems created 60 years ago.
Sixty years ago. We’re pretty sure everybody was filling out tax forms by hand during the JFK administration.
Democrats at the committee hearing said the IRS just needed more money. So the Biden administration wants to spend nearly $400 million more at the IRS. Maybe that would help hire more people to answer the phone. Maybe the IRS could buy up-to-date computer systems. Maybe.
Mr. Rettig said the goal would be to get the answering rate up to about 80 percent. Which means, we assume, that the other 20 percent will go to voicemail. And, it should be noted, Mr. Rettig says most of the voice mails left last year went unanswered.
So, for that extra $400 million in taxpayer money, taxpayers would still have a one in five chance of not getting help when they call the people responsible for collecting their taxes.
On second thought, this is definitely a government operation.