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IRS tax return backlog affects Coloradans waiting for refunds

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- A backlog of American taxpayers continue to wait for their 2021 tax refunds, and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is asking for people to keep patient.

According to an IRS report, 35 million individual tax returns still required processing by the end of filing season on May 17th. As of August 6th, the IRS says they've cut that number down to 12.7 million unprocessed individual returns.

The primary cause of the backlog of unprocessed tax returns is caused by the COVID-19 pandemic according to the IRS.

Last week, Congressman Doug Lamborn and several of his legislative colleagues sent a letter to the IRS with concerns over the number of unprocessed 2020 tax returns and the inability to receive customer support over the phone.

“I have heard from numerous constituents that they are having trouble receiving returns and finding help at the IRS. Many Americans overpay during their tax year, so processing delays are incredibly important to return money in a timely fashion to these individuals. The IRS must have their employees return to in-person work and diligently begin to process the severe backlog of tax returns. My constituents deserve timely responses to their concerns and the ability to communicate directly with customer support over their outstanding issues. I am grateful for the support of my colleagues and hope that the IRS takes the steps required to meet its stated mission of “providing America’s taxpayers top-quality service.”

Letter from Congressman Doug Lamborn to IRS Commissioner Charles P. Rettig

Here in Colorado Springs, KRDO spoke with one family who says they've been waiting for their $3,000 tax refund for nearly four months. However, so far Rebecca Hawkins from Fountain hasn't seen anything.

The mother's tax return was filed in April, and she's been patiently waiting for her refund ever since.

“It’s a little frustrating because I work for a school district," said Hawkins "So over the summer I wasn’t able to get paid. So that would’ve helped a lot with our bills.”

Hawkins says she called the IRS in July, she was told the agency was backlogged with unprocessed tax returns.

“I even asked if everything looked okay on my part and they said everything looked great," said Hawkins. "It’s just they are so backed up.”

“It’s entirely random," said Brian Baum, a certified public accountant in Colorado Springs. "I have some clients who tell me they’ve received their claims back in a few minutes, and clients who are still waiting."

Baum says the 2021 IRS backlog shouldn't come as a surprise, and we've been building towards this for the past decade.  

“Years and years of stagnant funding, combined with all these different changes to the tax code, and the pandemic itself -- they’re really trying to catch up. It’s a struggle for them,” Baum said.

Baum believes filing taxes is getting more complicated than ever before, and highly recommends getting expert assistance to file taxes correctly the first time, leading to shorter wait times for the refunds in the future.

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Dan Beedie

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