What’s going on with the IRS?

Here are some truths about tax season this year that are very helpful but at the same time very disheartening:

The IRS is very behind on its work and can’t keep up. 

This is particularly troublesome for people who file paper returns and pay with paper checks.  Presently there are over 7 million individual returns and 2.3 million business returns the IRS still hasn’t processed from 2019.  Correspondence sits unopened in trailers – some of that correspondence includes payment checks that the IRS has not yet deposited.  What this means is for some people who owe taxes and have timely sent in their payments , the IRS has not yet cashed the check or credited the taxpayer’s account.  

Even more depressing, there are many people who the IRS has not yet sent their 2019 refund.  And lots of people who have not yet received their 2020 stimulus check or checks.  

So what can you do for your 2020 return to make things easier?

Do everything electronically:  

  • file your return electronically, 
  • pay what you owe electronically, 
  • and receive your refund electronically.

Reducing the need for paperwork will eliminate the possibility of it ending up in a pile of overlooked returns and checks..