It appears that the already hectic tax season has taken a nasty turn for the worse.

As reported by the Washington Post, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is still struggling to process nearly twenty-four million tax returns from last year—a figure that is far greater than previously reported by the tax agency. Many of the tax refunds related to the backlog have been held up for ten months or more.

According to the Daily Mail, the twenty-four million returns are “more than twice as much as the 11.4 million unprocessed business and individual returns that the tax agency reported in mid-December 2021.”

What this likely means—much to the dismay of taxpayers who want to get their hands on their refunds—is that the processing of this year’s tax returns will be even further delayed.

“Enormous Challenges”

National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins noted in a recent letter that “the coronavirus pandemic has created enormous challenges for taxpayers, tax professionals, and the IRS.”

Collins also admitted that she is “deeply concerned about the upcoming filing season.” The remaining tax returns are from the “most challenging year taxpayers and tax professionals have ever experienced,” she continued, adding that the processing delays could be “as bad, and potentially worse” this tax season.

The IRS has responded to these challenges by reassigning 1,200 employees to work on the growing backlogs. “This is an all-hands-on-deck situation,” IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig wrote in an email to employees.

However, a recent effort by the agency to hire 5,000 new employees to assist with the tax filing season wasn’t even able to draw 200 applicants. “I do not think we’re going to be able to hire enough people to get us out of this hole,” Collins noted.

A Strong Start

Despite the massive backlog and staffing shortages, it appears that the tax agency has made positive headway. The IRS has confirmed that it has issued more than four million tax refunds, with the average refund coming in at roughly $2,200.

“The IRS is off to a strong start to this year’s tax season,” the agency said in a statement.

“For historical perspective, it’s important to remember these weekly numbers can shift dramatically during the initial weeks of filing season due to numerous factors, including the calendar and filing patterns that can change year to year,” the IRS added.

The IRS has also decided to suspend the mailing of automatic collection notices, which are often triggered when the agency’s records show that a taxpayer owes taxes and has not filed a return.

“IRS employees are committed to doing everything possible with our limited resources to help people during this period,” Rettig said in a statement.

“Our employees continue to expend every effort to balance a confluence of multiple, unprecedented demands—including successfully starting the filing season, working our inventory of unprocessed tax returns as well as looking for additional ways to minimize burden for taxpayers, tax professionals and businesses,” Rettig continued.

Ethen Kim Lieser is a Washington state-based Science and Tech Editor who has held posts at Google, The Korea Herald, Lincoln Journal Star, AsianWeek, and Arirang TV. Follow or contact him on LinkedIn.

Image: Reuters.