IRS Backlog Reaches 35 Million Unprocessed Tax Returns

If you’re still waiting for your tax returns, stand in line. Apparently, there are 35 million unprocessed tax returns.

According to the National Taxpayer Advocate, there is an ongoing refund delay for millions of taxpayers, representing an increase in the IRS backlog of returns not yet processed. That number was 31 million in May, so it looks like we’re headed in the wrong direction.

Several taxpayers told CBS MoneyWatch that they’ve been waiting months to get their refunds. They haven’t received any answers on when their returns may be processed or when they can expect to receive them.

Typically, taxpayers receive around $2,800, which could cause financial hardships if not received when anticipated. This is very true for many households that rely on their refunds to help pay bills.

The backlog is primarily the result of what National Taxpayer Advocate Erin M. Collins calls a “perfect storm” that created “perhaps the most challenging filing season taxpayers, tax professionals, and the IRS have ever experienced.”

The IRS shut down some of its operations due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, Congress placed the agency in charge of distributing three rounds of stimulus checks.

“The impact of the pandemic on IRS operations — and therefore on taxpayers — has been significant,” Collins noted. “The IRS’s historically high number of returns requiring manual review means that most individual taxpayers in this group and many business taxpayers will not receive timely refunds.”

Unfortunately, taxpayers won’t get their returns until the IRS can process the 35 million returns awaiting manual review, Collins added.