Leaderboard

From The National Tax Advocate Blog: :Backlog of 35 Million Tax Returns That Require Manual Processing As of the end the 2021 filing season, the IRS had a backlog of about 35 million tax returns that require manual processing, meaning employee involvement is generally required before a return can advance to the next stage in the processing pipeline. The backlog includes about 16.8 million paper tax returns waiting to be processed; about 15.8 million returns suspended during processing that require further review; and about 2.7 million amended returns awaiting processing. In contrast to this filing season, in 2018 and 2019, pre-pandemic years, the IRS had a backlog of 7.4 million and 10.7 million returns, respectively, awaiting manual review at the close of the filing season. Of the 15.8 million returns suspended during processing, most were sent to the “Error Resolution System” for further review of specific items. Two of the most common items were “recovery rebate credit” (RRC) claims and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) or Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) “lookback” claims. Although the majority of eligible taxpayers received their EIPs quickly and seamlessly, millions of eligible taxpayers had not received payment as of the beginning of the 2021 filing season. Taxpayers who had not received the full amount of EIP to which they were entitled were instructed to claim the missing funds as an RRC on their 2020 returns. The IRS had to manually verify many of these claims to ensure the amounts were correct. In addition, the IRS had to manually verify returns where the taxpayer elected to use 2019 earnings to claim the EITC or the ACTC. Because of changes to the tax law that took place late in 2020, the IRS did not have time to adjust its systems for the 2021 filing season to allow 2019 earnings to be systemically verified. The IRS Error Resolution System holds these returns in suspense until an employee can manually review the return and verify the RRC claimed on the return or the 2019 earnings for EITC and ACTC lookback claims." The Commissioner testified to Congress that all tax returns received during 2020 have been processed.

Catherine would probably rather have a gun, anyway.

So now I have to post just to see if I have a shield... Pout; no shield.

And there's the problem. None of my few gamblers have any interest in keeping detailed logs.

Notice 2015-21, I.R.B. 2015-12, March 3, 2015 was proposed as a Safe Harbor for gambling "sessions" that net gambling income with losses within a "session" and referred to slot machines. If you have gambling clients or expect to have gambling clients, I would call the author's telephone number at the end to see if the notice was finalized or superseded by a more recent notice or expanded to include more gambling methods or... Note that the netting was proposed for discreet sessions within a day and not annual and would require a detailed log or diary.

They might change the taxation of winnings vs losses at some point to allow netting out , but I wouldn’t bet on it.

Don't feel too terrible, Catherine. You are in great company, those of us, The Unshielded. We have nothing to hide, probably, maybe.

Maybe so. I have been on a personal crusade this past week.

Yes, I saw yours and Eric's shields. Will all the shielded folks be in a group called something like Knights of the Computer Table?

"The IRS reported a “level of service” on its accounts management phone lines of 15%, but only 7% of taxpayer calls actually reached a telephone assistor. On the “1040” line, which is the most frequently called IRS toll-free number, taxpayers made about 85 million calls, but only 3% actually reached a telephone assistor. “When so few callers can get through to a telephone assistor, problems remain unsolved and taxpayer frustration mounts,” Collins wrote."