The IRS estimates that nearly 5 million Unopened Paper Tax Returns had piled up at the Agency by Mid-May amid the Closure of its Offices Nationwide due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.
Overall, the IRS estimated it had a Backlog of 10 million pieces of Mail to Open and Process as Thousands of Workers begin Returning to the Offices on Monday.
In addition to Tax Returns, the Unopened Mail includes Taxpayer Correspondence, Information Returns, and Payments.
Through May 2nd2, the Agency had Processed 120 million Returns, down 14% from the same point in 2019, when the Filing Deadline was April 15th. The Deadline was Delayed by Three Months this year because of Disruptions caused by the Pandemic.
Nearly 90% of the 134 million Returns filed so far were sent to the Agency Electronicall5. Filings were Down 6.2% from 2019, but the Average Refund, nearly $2,900, was similar than last year.
More than 10,000 IRS Employees have been told to Report to Offices in Kentucky, Texas, and Utah. They will Focus on Mail and Return Processing, Taxpayer Refund Claims, Depositing Checks, Income Verification Requests, Customer Service, and Telephone Assistance.
Additional Employees are Expected to be Recalled in coming weeks. More than Half of the Agency’s roughly 81,000 Employees have been Teleworking.
The IRS is taking a Number of Steps to ensure Employee Safety in their Facilities, for example:
- Enforcing Social Distancing.
- Procuring 1.76 million Disposable Masks and 188,000 Reusable Masks.
- Providing Hand Sanitizer at All Facilities and Limited Quantities of Disinfecting Wipes with the IRS attempting to Procure More.
- Enhanced Cleaning.
- Assessing the ability to Modify HVAC Operations to provide Additional Outside Air and Increase Air Exchange.
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