Of the total, however, IRS numbers indicated that 11.2 million individual paper returns awaited processing as of June 10, up from 9.6 million similar returns at the same time last year.

That's down slightly from 19.88 million paper returns in the pipeline at the same time a year ago. The IRS said 19.13 million paper returns - amended and original returns - awaited processing as of June 10. 'Newer numbers through June 10 demonstrate that the IRS is ahead of tax return processing compared to a year ago,' the IRS said, stating that the agency continues to make substantial progress. On Wednesday, after the release of the National Taxpayer Advocate report, the IRS took issue with the backlog inventory numbers in report, stating that the numbers are 'neither the most accurate nor most recent figures.' 'In the year 2022,' Collins wrote 'it is unacceptable that the agency is still paying thousands of employees to keystroke the data from millions of tax returns, digit by digit, into IRS systems - creating the current processing backlog and producing an error rate in transcribing individual returns last year of 22%.' How long should it take?

Instead, six to eight IRS employees can work on a return at various steps in the process, including transcribing the paper return into the system. The IRS does not use scanning technology for processing all that paperwork. The report says the IRS has failed to make progress in eliminating its paper backlog because “its pace of processing paper tax returns has not kept up with new receipts.” That backlog includes amended paper returns.Ĭollins noted that processing delays are creating 'unprecedented financial difficulties for millions of taxpayers and outright hardships for many.”ĭuring 2021, the report noted that the IRS received about 17 million paper individual income tax returns and about 21 million paper business tax returns.Īmong business taxpayers, Collins noted, many have been waiting extended periods to receive the Employee Tax Retention Credits that they're eligible to get, in addition to their regular refunds. The IRS had a backlog of 21.3 million unprocessed paper tax returns by the end of May, an increase of 1.3 million over the same time last year, according to the report issued Wednesday by the National Taxpayer Advocate. “Unfortunately, at this point the backlog is still crushing the IRS, its employees, and most importantly, taxpayers,” Collins said. Collins in midyear report to Congress, which was released Wednesday. “The IRS has said it is aiming to crush the backlogged inventory this year, and I hope it succeeds,” wrote National Taxpayer Advocate Erin M. The IRS maintains that it’s critical for those who still need to file a tax return this year to file electronically, if possible.īy year end, the IRS projects that it can start the next tax season in 2023 without a paperwork backlog. More will arrive as some taxpayers who requested extensions also will file by paper. About 137 million returns filed in 2022 were filed electronically.Ībout 8 million federal returns filed by paper were mailed to the IRS so far this year. While some progress has been made, it's not enough to get the job done.įortunately for most taxpayers, e-filed returns have generated refunds quickly. The accumulation of paper returns has been a troublesome development since the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns shook up the system.

Irss wheres my refund