Congresswoman Elaine Luria, D-Va., is urging IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig to continue processing annual tax refunds in addition to the COVID-19 related checks.
Currently, some Americans have waited well over a month or longer for their refunds, despite the IRS website stating that it issues “9 out of 10 refunds in less than 21 days.”
“During this public health and economic emergency, I am working to ensure that the federal government works for Coastal Virginians—and it became clear that many were waiting long periods of time for their refunds on their 2019 taxes without any answers as to when they would receive their money,” said Luria. “In the best of times, these delays would create hardships for taxpayers, but during this economic crisis, these delays are especially challenging. The IRS must take all actions necessary to quickly process all outstanding refunds and equip IRS employees with the resources they need.”
Luria is leading the effort on this issue, urging IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig to take the following steps:
- Evaluate current information technology (IT) infrastructure and identify what improvements are needed to enable workers to accomplish more remotely;
- Identify internal policies hindering the ability of employees to work remotely, and provide immediate flexibility;
- Make it easier for taxpayers to contact the IRS by telephone or online;
- Work with public health experts to determine how the IRS can rapidly and safely resume in-person operations for tasks that cannot be done remotely; and
- If necessary, request emergency funding from Congress to make these improvements as quickly as possible.
The full letter can be found here.
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