IRS posts tax season info page for tax pros and taxpayers

The Internal Revenue Service has set up a dedicated page on its website to provide the latest information about the current tax season and the agency’s efforts to deal with the backlog of millions of previously filed returns.

The IRS has been struggling to cope with a backlog of tax returns from last year estimated at nearly 24 million by the Professional Managers Association, a group of IRS managers, according to the Washington Post — far more than had been previously reported by the IRS and the Treasury Department. The IRS has been trying to cope with staffing shortages, budget constraints, aging computer equipment, ever-changing tax laws and new demands in recent years for distributing multiple rounds of Economic Impact Payments and monthly advance Child Tax Credit payments.

The IRS noted that this tax season, taxpayers are also facing various issues due the tax law changes that took place last year and ongoing challenges related to the pandemic. The special tax season web page aims to raise awareness about these issues and provide people with the most timely information for filing tax returns as well as those who have previous year tax returns awaiting processing by the IRS.

“The IRS is taking numerous steps to keep this tax season going smoothly while also taking additional action to address the inventory of tax returns filed last year,” said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig in a statement. “We’re off to a good start processing tax returns and issuing refunds. But we want people to have an easy way to see the latest information. This new page provides a one-stop shop for the latest key information people and the tax community may need.”

The new web page will be available via the IRS.gov home page and shared through social media and other channels.

The IRS began tax season on Jan. 24, and in less than two weeks more than 4 million tax refunds have been sent out worth nearly $10 billion. Millions more will be distributed in the weeks ahead as the IRS enters an important period of the tax season.

The new web page also provides links to information on ongoing efforts by the IRS to address the inventory of unprocessed tax returns filed prior to year as well as steps to stop more than a dozen common letters and notices to taxpayers, which a coalition of tax professional groups has urged the IRS to suspend, along with updates on IRS operations and the number of unprocessed tax returns.