The IRS has suffered substantial delays in processing returns and other correspondence, particularly manual submissions. A February 9, 2022 IRS press release noted that there were “several million” unprocessed returns in inventory.
IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig testified to the House Ways & Means Oversight Subcommittee on March 17 that, barring unforeseen developments, he expects to “enter the 2023 filing season with normal inventories” of returns and correspondence to process, noting that “surge teams” of experienced IRS employees who have formerly