IRS "in crisis," government watchdog says

[corbe]

IRS "in crisis," government watchdog says

Erin Doherty

The Internal Revenue Service began the last filing season with a backlog of 11.7 million returns from 2020, and the 2019 returns were not cleared until June 2021, according to a new report by the National Taxpayer Advocate.

Why it matters: "During 2021, tens of millions of taxpayers were forced to wait extraordinarily long periods of time for the IRS to process their tax returns, issue their refunds, and address their correspondence," wrote national taxpayer advocate Erin Collins, adding that "the IRS is in crisis."

Driving the news: The report details the millions of returns that are remaining from the "the most challenging year taxpayers and tax professionals have ever experienced," Collins wrote.

<..snip..>

https://www.axios.com/government-watchdog-irs-backlog-pandemic-8f07045c-9f8e-4471-86f7-e09428c85b17.html

[Cyber Liberty]

Give me a holler when it's dead.

[240B]

Simply do not file. I stopped filing IRS returns years ago. Nothing happened.
Regardless of all the bluster and so called 'LAWs' it is more expensive for THEM to come after you than what you supposedly "owe". (to three hour lunch people who shit themselves)

[corbe]

   TTIUWP:

[Bigun]

Give me a holler when it's dead.

  Me too!

[GrouchoTex]

Just breaks your heart to hear the IRS in in crisis, doesn't it?
 

[libertybele]

Just breaks your heart to hear the IRS in in crisis, doesn't it?
 

Dissolve the IRS.

[Kamaji]

They won't just stop collecting taxes.  In fact, what they do is, they focus on collecting taxes, including keeping all overpayments, and only later work on processing claims for refund.

As a result, if one has had too much tax withheld from one's pay, a refund will be a long time coming.

Furthermore, if one has an overpayment from one year that is supposed to be applied to the next year, that may not happen if the earlier return hasn't been processed yet - they have been known to process the returns out of order - with the result that a false underpayment will appear on their records and they will start dunning you for the underpayment.

[GtHawk]

They won't just stop collecting taxes.  In fact, what they do is, they focus on collecting taxes, including keeping all overpayments, and only later work on processing claims for refund.

As a result, if one has had too much tax withheld from one's pay, a refund will be a long time coming.

Furthermore, if one has an overpayment from one year that is supposed to be applied to the next year, that may not happen if the earlier return hasn't been processed yet - they have been known to process the returns out of order - with the result that a false underpayment will appear on their records and they will start dunning you for the underpayment.

in over fifty six continuous years of working and paying taxes I cant recall more than six or seven that said IRS didn't determine that not only was I not due a refund but that I of course owed them even more of the cash I earned. And on top of all that I seemed to get less and less for my, as Biden would no doubt say, my patriotic contributions that belong to the government not me.

[Kamaji]

in over fifty six continuous years of working and paying taxes I cant recall more than six or seven that said IRS didn't determine that not only was I not due a refund but that I of course owed them even more of the cash I earned. And on top of all that I seemed to get less and less for my, as Biden would no doubt say, my patriotic contributions that belong to the government not me.

For a lot of people whose main income is wages, however, they will often have an overpayment because the withholding rules are intentionally designed to overwithhold as a behavioral incentive to get people to file their tax returns.

[240B]

me: OK I agree to pay the (invisible) IRS ... I guess
me: How much do I owe you Federal lackey slaves?
You have to figure that out.
me: OK but you know how much I owe.
Yes, Of Course we know exactly how much we want you to pay for our next boondoggle to Vegas.
me: So what happens if I guess wrong?
If you are over the amount we want, you are good.
If you guess under our boondoggle to Vegas, THEN YOU GO TO PRISON!

[Kamaji]

me: OK I agree to pay the (invisible) IRS ... I guess
me: How much do I owe you Federal lackey slaves?
You have to figure that out.
me: OK but you know how much I owe.
Yes, Of Course we know exactly how much we want you to pay for our next boondoggle to Vegas.
me: So what happens if I guess wrong?
If you are over the amount we want, you are good.
If you guess under our boondoggle to Vegas, THEN YOU GO TO PRISON!

Prison is highly unlikely, unless you consistently refuse to cooperate and/or try to hide assets.

[240B]

Prison is highly unlikely, unless you consistently refuse to cooperate and/or try to hide assets.

If they already know what they want you to pay, then why go through the whole pretense of 'filing'?
They know how much they want. They do not send you a bill because they do not want you to know.
Talking to the IRS: We already know everything about you. Pay up or you go to jail.
Pay up what? You will pay up whatever we tell you to pay.

[Kamaji]

If they already know what they want you to pay, then why go through the whole pretense of 'filing'?
They know how much they want. They do not send you a bill because they do not want you to know.
Talking to the IRS: We already know everything about you. Pay up or you go to jail.
Pay up what? You will pay up whatever we tell you to pay.

Because they don't always know what you are supposed to pay. 

[GtHawk]

For a lot of people whose main income is wages, however, they will often have an overpayment because the withholding rules are intentionally designed to overwithhold as a behavioral incentive to get people to file their tax returns.

Yeah, me not so much I decided early if someone was going to earn interest on that money it was going to be me.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Seems this is a prelude to going back to the drawing table demanding the BBB hire those extra 87,000 agents, doesn't it?

"Poor IRS, they need to hire more.  And if they do, we will get the tax refunds to you quicker'

[Kamaji]

Seems this is a prelude to going back to the drawing table demanding the BBB hire those extra 87,000 agents, doesn't it?

"Poor IRS, they need to hire more.  And if they do, we will get the tax refunds to you quicker'

Which would be a subterfuge.  The IRS has such a huge backlog because most of their people, especially the rank and file, are still working from home (i.e., remotely), which simply means that you already-slow civil servants being even slower than they could get away with if they were in the office.  Furthermore, the main warehouse in Kansas, where most paper-filed returns get processed, was shut down for months for supposed covid-19 nonsense, and that resulted in a backlog of at least two years for some types of returns.

It's the toxic mix of union rules and covid-19 rules that has put the IRS so far behind, not a lack of personnel.

[Cyber Liberty]

Seems this is a prelude to going back to the drawing table demanding the BBB hire those extra 87,000 agents, doesn't it?

"Poor IRS, they need to hire more.  And if they do, we will get the tax refunds to you quicker'

That is exactly what they're doing.

[corbe]

   Somewhat related.

A 60-year-old IRS IT system won't finish modernizing until 2030

By Natalie Alms
OCTOBER 20, 2021

The Internal Revenue Service's plan to modernize its key source for individual tax data has seen multiple cost and schedule changes since it started in 2009.

The IRS completed most of its planned IT modernization activities for the last two fiscal years on schedule and within cost, but one of its efforts, intended as a replacement for a 60-year-old system, is now on track to replace core functions only—and it may not be complete until 2030.

That's according to a Government Accountability Office report, which reviewed five IRS IT investments and found that they met most performance goals for FY 2019 and 2020.

The 60-year-old system slated for replacement is called the Individual Master File. It's the key source for individual tax data, and a modernized system would provide the infrastructure needed for real time digital taxpayer interactions, rapid access to data and agile response to legislative changes, according to the GAO report.

The program intended to modernize it, called Customer Account Data Engine 2, has seen many delays and cost changes since the IRS first started developing it in 2009, according to the GAO. A key milestone for replacing selected functions, for example, has been pushed back by nine years, from 2014 to 2023.

<..snip..>

https://fcw.com/digital-government/2021/10/a-60-year-old-irs-it-system-wont-finish-modernizing-until-2030/259253/

[Kamaji]

A robust replacement for the IMF is desperately needed.

Just think:  if it's 60 years old, that means it was designed/developed/implemented in the 1960s, and therefore most likely runs on 8-bit software.  That's like continuing to use MS DOS as your operating system, and being confined to text editors like Wordstar (worse, actually, since wordstar was released in the 1980s).

[Bigun]