In December 2020, the IRS had around 16.5 million tax returns either being prepared for processing or on hold during processing because of the effects of the pandemic.
Fast forward to December 2022, and that number dropped to 4.5 million.
Before the weekend hits, here are 5 numbers from our new report that show how the IRS reduced its backlog - and what challenges remain.
2 million
The number of unpostable cases in IRS’s total inventory. These are transactions that will not post to a taxpayer's tax account because they failed an IRS validity check, and they are the biggest part of the 4.5 million backlog.
1.4 million
The number of paper tax returns being prepared for processing.
9
The number of outdated mail sorting machines the IRS plans to replace. These new machines could help the IRS quickly open and prepare mail for processing, speeding up their ability to process paper returns and deliver refunds.
So...
IRS made some great strides reducing tax return backlogs.
But...
they still need to make headway resolving taxpayer issues.
2.8 million
The number of cases that the IRS has not been able to resolve within its established timeframes.
5,159
The number of customer service reps the IRS onboarded (as of October 2023) to help work these cases - 97% of their hiring goal.
