Lawmakers continue to call on IRS to address ongoing customer service delays

Customer service concerns and ongoing processing backlogs are why 93 members of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate continue to encourage the Internal Revenue Service to resolve issues.

U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine, and U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, as well as U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana lead the effort.

Legislators sent a letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig about these concerns, as well as requesting extension of the suspension of automated notices and collections, and for the agency to continue making maximum use of overtime and surge teams.

“Since last year, numerous Members of Congress in the House and Senate have sent several letters regarding customer service issues, processing delays, and the outstanding backlog of returns,” wrote the bicameral group of lawmakers in the letter. “Yet, we are writing again to urge the IRS to extend the suspension of automated collections, continue the pause on automated notices, keep its surge teams in place until hiring challenges and processing backlogs are adequately addressed.”

According to a press release, the letter was sent before the Inflation Reduction Act was signed, which provides funding to modernize IRS systems and improve customer service for taxpayers. The National Taxpayer Advocate (NTA) reports that the paper return backlog has increased by 1.3 million and the IRS has only met 12 percent of its hiring goals. Refunds are taking six months or longer on average compared to previous historical processing times of four to six weeks.

“[W]e believe that the IRS must take additional steps to improve customer service issues, decrease processing delays, and work-down the backlog of paper returns and correspondence by continuing the maximum use of overtime and surge teams, as well as the continued suspension of automated notices and collections—which have been critical in reducing pandemic-related tax return and correspondence backlogs,” the letter also said.

Warner began pressing the IRS to address pandemic-related processing delays two years ago. His concerns began when backlogs at the IRS in February 2021 caused millions of Americans to wait for delayed stimulus check payments and processing of tax returns. In January 2022, Warner again called on Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Commissioner Rettig to quickly address reports of unprocessed tax returns for the 2020 filing season.