In recent weeks, reports have indicated that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is facing tumult heading into tax season due to a combination of short staffing and insufficient funding. Notably, these reports also include quotes from IRS brass.

A CBS News report last week said that the IRS is severely “understaffed,” and this issue could cause tax refunds to be delayed this year. 

IRS Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary Natasha Sarin said that the agency is operating with "thousands fewer employees than it needs.” She pointed to retirements and budget challenges as two causes for the staffing issues.

"The IRS isn't going to be able to answer as many of those calls as it should be able to," Sarin told CBS. "We know that that's going to be hugely frustrating for taxpayers in a complex filing season in the middle of a pandemic.”

Last week, the IRS released a statement titled “Providing meaningful assistance to taxpayers in the current environment” in an effort to reassure taxpayers.

While noting that the IRS entered the pandemic “without the funding that it needs to serve the American people,” the statement says that the agency will do all it can this season, including encouraging employees to work overtime, using surge teams, and deploying new technology to process returns faster and more accurately.

“We are clearly not where we want to be at present. But our employees have been hard at work to develop innovative processes to expedite inventory reductions during the past year,” the agency said. “Despite substantial progress thus far, another challenging filing season is ahead.”

The IRS, in the same statement, also called for “modernization” of its tech infrastructure, which would presumably require additional funding.

“Since last year, we have been focused on numerous taxpayer-related issues and have pursued innovative ideas and processes not previously deployed by the IRS in an effort to get healthy and provide meaningful taxpayer services," IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig said in the statement.

“Our employees have worked hard, long hours during the pandemic to assist taxpayers and successfully modify our systems, despite lacking the funding that we need to adequately serve the American people,” Rettig said. He added that the IRS appreciates taxpayers’ patience and understanding as the agency balances many different demands.

The Congressional Budget Office released a report last fall stating that if the Biden Administration’s proposal to add $80 billion for the IRS between 2022 and 2031 was enacted, revenues would rise by $200 billion in that ten-year period. Under the proposed plan, funding would increase gradually over the course of a decade.

Stephen Silver, a technology writer for The National Interest, is a journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philly Voice, Philadelphia Weekly, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Living Life Fearless, Backstage magazine, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.

Image: Reuters.