Individual Income Tax Return Processing To Be Completed
Are you one of those taxpayers who is waiting for a refund on your 2020 income tax return? Well, if so, the IRS has just alerted that the processing of 2020 income tax returns is expected to be completed by week’s end.
The backlog was just another part of life that was affected by COVID. A larger than usual number of paper tax returns were filed which only contributed to the delays along with staffing issues.
As of June 10, 2022, the IRS had processed more than 4.5 million of the more than 4.7 million individual paper tax returns received in 2021. The IRS has also successfully processed the vast majority of tax returns filed this year: More than 143 million returns have been processed overall, with almost 98 million refunds worth more than $298 billion being issued. Those are some pretty big numbers.
Improvements in the process for taxpayers whose paper and electronically filed returns were suspended during processing for manual review and correction – referred to as error resolution. Last filing season, an IRS tax examiner could correct an average of 70 tax returns with errors per hour. Thanks to new technology implemented this filing season, 180 to 240 returns can now be corrected per hour. As of June 12, 2021, there were 8.9 million tax returns in error resolution. As of June 10, 2022, there were just 360,000 returns awaiting correction.
The IRS reminds millions of taxpayers who have not yet filed their 2021 tax returns this year – including those who requested an extension until October 17 – to make sure they file their returns electronically with direct deposit to avoid delays. People who use e-file avoid the delays facing those who file paper returns; e-filed returns with no errors are typically processed in 21 days.
The IRS also urges people to file as soon as they are ready. There is no need to wait until the last minute before the October 17 extension deadline. Filing sooner avoids potential delays for taxpayers, and it also assists the larger ongoing IRS efforts to complete processing tax returns this year.
So, if you are waiting for a refund, you should be able to visit irs.gov – Where’s My Refund next week and find out when to expect your refund.
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