IRS admits it is overloaded: ‘Be patient’

In an announcement on Friday, August 24, the IRS acknowledged it still has a mail backlog, which accumulated during the COVID-19–related closure of most of its operations but said it was making “progress” in it.

This backlog not only relates to inbound mail, but also to all outbound mail – including the Economic Impact Payments for US individual and families affected by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Earlier last week, the IRS, in an update to its webpage on its operations during the pandemic, advised taxpayers who had mailed in payments by check that had not yet been cashed not to cancel the checks and to maintain an adequate bank balance to cover them. In addition, any notices for late payments or overdue taxes are being suspended due to the reduced operational efficiency and weight of processing the already overabundance of mail received during the shutdown earlier in the year.

For those that sent US tax returns to the IRS in paper-form, the IRS is requesting “patience” in the handling and processing – for both taxpayers which are expecting refunds and for those with tax payments due.

As for those US citizens that have filed for the Economic Impact Payments, once the IRS has accepted the request, the processing will take place.  For those that have not yet request the payments, the IRS is advising that the requests need to be received by October 15 in order to be processed before the deadline (end of December).

For more information of the IRS tax return processing or to request the Economic Impact Payments, please feel free to contact us at Grant Thornton Israel either by email ariel.katz@il.gt.com or phone 03-710-6644.