IRS faces backlog of tax returns as extended deadline approaches

WASHINGTON (WFLA) — As the looming tax deadline approaches, those who have yet to file taxes may be waiting longer than usual to see their returns.

WFLA heard from our viewers, many of whom are concerned about the status of their returns after going without updates for months.

Federal employees, including those working for the Internal Revenue Service, only returned to federal offices on June 1 after working remotely. Only 91,383,000 refunds have been sent so far, down 12 percent from the 104,047,000 sent by the same time in 2019.

For the 90 percent of tax returns that have been filed electronically, automated processing has allowed those returns to be dispursed at a relatively average pace.

It’s a different story, however, for the 10 percent of people still mailing their returns.

Of the 135,229,000 returns received this year, 122,870,000 have been processed.

A backlog is continuing to pile up, and the IRS says there is no set timeline when it will restart processing paper returns.

If you still haven’t filed your taxes, the IRS recommends filing electronically, by this year’s deadline of July 15.