WHERE IS AARP IN REGARDS TO THE FOOTDRAGGING AT THE IRS

[nctarheel]

Now I may be old fashioned, but I enjoy doing my taxes pen and paper. Sent them in early and now have been informed that it may be more than six months before I receive my refund.

Does AARP not see this as an issue that should be addressed?

Seniors living on a fixed income regard their refunds as more important than do two worker families.

Why hasn't AARP addressed this important issue?

[fffred]

@nctarheel 

I have seen no end of complaints on forums about processing times at the IRS, and related articles. This is a storm that’s been a long time coming.

As a Washington Post subscriber i can “gift” some articles so I am sharing this recent one. Just the photographs of their cafeteria tells the story

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/interactive/2022/irs-pipeline-tax-return-delays/?pwapi_token...

[fffred]

More on this, is that the IRS has suffered an ongoing triple whammy.

i - for a number of years, some in the right wing have taken it as their quest to "starve the beast". Deprive our Federal government of the funds it needs to pay the bills and keep the lights on; the thinking is that without income the Federal level will have to downsize. Score 1 for states' rights.

ii - the Covid pandemic had shut down offices, etc, just like the rest of the country's businesses. Again slowing down processing.

iii - One of the modern thoughts in tax collection is to essentially have all income reporting funneled electronically to the IRS. This has been talked about for years, even by Republicans (here's an article from 2017:   https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/02/republicans-say-you-will-file-your-taxes-with-a-postcard-if-new-bill...). Other countries do something very similar. In fact, I recently moved to Canada for family reasons (wife and her family) and their tax system somewhat follows the postcard principle. But this won't happen in the US; there are too many entrenched business interests who don't want to see this happen. That's read "Intuit", the huge financial software firm (publisher of QuickBooks, TurboTax, etc). Intuit spends gobs of cash on politicking members of Congress (sorry, my incipient Alzheimer's can't remember the word that applies to this role  ...ahhh, "lobbying") against simplifying tax laws and even against making FREE (no pay) tax software available. Congress had set up a system to provide for free tax return software for those under certain income but Intuit not only fought tooth and nail (and $$$) against it they blatantly set up their website for TurboTax to muddy the aspect of "free". Within the past year they had to pay a hefty fine based on this lawsuit (https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2022/03/ftc-sues-intuit-its-deceptive-turbotax-f...).

So there you have it. 3 reasons why the IRS is behind the 8 Ball.

[nctarheel]

I would like to thank everyone for the multiple resources afforded me to research how the IRS intends to address their backlog. Also, thanks for advising me as to the funding resource that the IRS is going to use.

HOWEVER..............

The point of inquiry of my original post was directed toward AARP staff. I want to know why AARP has not taken up the plight of those older, fixed income taxpayers who have done pen and ink returns and will be waiting until the end of the year to get their refund, even though they filed in March.

To that, there has been no response as is evident.

[Tonster521]

@nctarheel I would be surprised if someone from the AARP Staff replied to your posting. If someone did reply, you would need to play music for the tap dance that they would provide. At any rate, google IRS Pipeline and watch the short video that explains the work procedures that the IRS performs. There is quite a bit of work involved whether tax returns are electronically or manually submitted. As I understand the workload, the manual returns are entered by IRS personnel manually. I do not believe the IRS is using scanner machines. So, electronic returns are ahead of the returns waiting to be entered manually. With more than 50% of IRS employees working from home, that suggests there are less IRS employees available to enter paper returns. I do not believe the IRS allows paper returns to leave their processing locations. So, IRS employees can work on returns already in the IRS data base from their home. However, someone physically at the IRS processing locations must enter the data from the paper returns. It appears to me to be a problem for IRS Management since they direct the workforce. I suspect AARP will not spend resources for this issue inasmuch as the IRS reports that about 90% of individual tax returns are submitted electronically. For last year's activity (2021 for 2020 tax year), the IRS reported that they received about 151 million individual tax returns electronically out of 168 million submitted. So, even with electronic submission, there is a backlog. However, I agree with you that you should not have to wait more than 6 months for your refund. Over the years, I have advised folks, especially folks on fixed income, where they know their income is generally the same from year to year, to not overpay their taxes during the tax year. Many are afraid of being assessed a tax underpayment penalty. So, they overpay during the tax year. Please note that if your income is less than $150 K, you can pay 100% of the amount of your previous tax year and will not be assessed a tax underpayment penalty. If your income increases slightly, you will issue a check to the Treasury for the shortfall and will not have to wait for a refund. I think AARP should be providing more educational articles regarding withholding, quarterly estimates, and final taxes owed. Good Luck!    

[GailL1]

@nctarheel 

You might like reading how the IRS is thinking about the future:  Progress - this is one of the ideas they have - courtesy of the IRA (Inflation Reduction Act) - 

Return-free filing is the second, more dramatic option for a free, IRS-run e-filing system that experts say could once again be under consideration as part of the Inflation Reduction Act.

Return-free filing is used by many countries with advanced economies in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. It essentially means that the government would do your taxes for you, withholding what’s owed and then doing its own accounting without requiring forms to be sent in by taxpayers.

The main type of return-free filing — used by the United Kingdom, Japan and Germany, among dozens other countries — is referred to as an exact withholding system. With this system, the IRS would try to withhold fewer taxes from people’s paychecks and skip the refunding process made necessary by a self-reported tax return.

more at:

The Hill - 08/22/2022 - The IRS could be on the verge of changing the way Americans file their taxes

[Tonster521]

@nctarheel I found an article that may put some light on the IRS productivity or, should I say, lack of productivity https://www.atr.org/irs-chief-53-of-agents-work-from-home-full-time/ This April 2022 article indicates that over 50% of IRS employees are working from home. I do not recall backlogs of 6 months or more when employees were required to work at the office with a boss present. There is an expression that states "when the cat's away, the mice will play". This may be a factor along with lack of scanner machines for paper returns. I understand the pandemic probably accelerated working from home. Yet, grocery stores stayed open and their employees were on site working.  

[GailL1]

I think they already have helped

- and now the WH has heard them and others and has passed legislation to hire 87,000 new IRS personnel over the next (10) years to help with the work flow - everything from auditing, to processors to CS phone reps.

AARP.org - How to File Your Tax Return for Free and Get Your Refund Faster

Best Way is to 

File early, file correctly, file electronically, use direct deposit for your refund -

from the link ~

You can still fill out paper tax forms and send them to the IRS. You’ll get your refund faster, however, if you file electronically. The IRS has partnered with eight software companies that will let you file your return online for free. To use the online free file program, single filers should have an adjusted gross income of $73,000 or less. (AGI is your total income minus adjustments such as alimony payments, contributions to health savings accounts and student loan interest.) Some free filing sites have lower maximum AGI requirements.

The article goes on to tell one how to file this way -

BTW, broadband is also being expanded by the government and there is a way to even get free or low-cost high-speed internet based on income and other government programs one may be on -

We just have to save money and the environment - no paper saves the environment and filing electronically saves time and labor cost and they go first just because they can be processed faster.