Another Tax Filing Deadline Down, But Problems with IRS Services Persist

While the 2022 individual tax filing deadline is behind us, taxpayer issues with Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is not. According to reporting from USA Today, an estimated 13.56 million taxpayers filed for extensions in 2021, with the IRS estimating that 15.2 million taxpayers would file for an extension in 2022. As of March 29^th, the National Taxpayer Advocate reported that there were still 15 million unprocessed returns – a number that some think is too low to reflect the actual IRS backlog.

At the start of the 2022 tax season, the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) joined a diverse coalition of stakeholders representing tax practitioners, businesses and taxpayers from many divergent backgrounds. The Tax Professionals United for Taxpayer Relief Coalition presented several recommendations to the IRS designed to ease the burden of a difficult filing season for taxpayers and tax practitioners by reducing unnecessary contact with the IRS.

Following months of letters, meetings and Congressional hearings, the IRS announced that it would suspend many automated notices and implement two new surge teams to address the overwhelming processing backlog. The AICPA notes that these are welcomed measures for the IRS to take but continues to encourage the IRS to do more. Implementing all of the coalition’s recommendations is an important and necessary next step to ensure that the millions of Americans who have extended their tax filing to October can do so with minimal stress and anxiety.