One photo of an IRS cafeteria overstuffed with paper shows why you haven't gotten your refund check yet — and just how underfunded the agency is

Business Insider ^ | June 14, 2022 | Juliana Kaplan

[where's_the_Outrage?]

The IRS is underfunded and understaffed, and had to deal with new pandemic responsibilities.

The result has been a massive backlog of unprocessed tax returns, many of them on paper.

A photo from the agency's Austin facility shows just how much paper the IRS is dealing with.

The IRS is still full of paper.

The agency has been contending with a historic backlog of unprocessed tax returns amidst new pandemic responsibilities, understaffing, and underfunding. The result: A massive build-up of unprocessed tax returns, many of which belong to Americans who have been waiting on refund checks.

Natasha Sarin, a tax policy and implementation counselor at the Treasury Department, shared a photo on Twitter of the cafeteria at the IRS's Austin site. In it, the room is "overrun" with paper returns awaiting employees.....

Increased funding for the IRS could make filing a lot more efficient, according to the Treasury Department. In a blog post, Sarin looked at what an "adequately funded tax administrator" might mean for filers, noting that in other countries it's free and easy to file your taxes. In Sweden, for instance, many taxpayers just have to reply "yes" to a text to confirm their filing.

[rellic]

I never get refunds.
That is because I pay my tax on 4/15 and not BEFORE!
They certainly have enough people to cash my check.
You stupid shits that expect refunds, had better figure it out.

[zeestephen]

More than 90% of Refunds and Earned Income Tax Credit checks are sent out with no agent review at all.

I will guess all those paper files are from the people who did not get their final Covid Stimulus check.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

We’ve gotten about six letters from IRS on our problem saying “We need more time.” It’s been going on about 18 months now. If you get a person on the phone, they are absolutely, completely, totally useless. Nobody will take ownership of a problem — it’s always picked up by the next available agent who files it away in this cafeteria where it awaits the next agent to deal with it three or four months down the road. It’s the most inefficient, disorganized organization on earth.

[Cen-Tejas]

.....”funding” is not the issue. “Human nature” IS the issue.

You stack 100 tax returns on the corner of the average (meaning “average” quality of employee) person/employee of IRS and after they read through 50 of them they are asleep or passed out or comatose or they QUIT. The NEXT day they don’t even want to go to work.

The whole CONCEPT of reviewing 100 million tax returns every year is bogus and will NEVER work no matter what the IRS budget is and this photograph proves it.

A Flat Tax or National sales tax or some similar method that can be handled by computers TOTALLY is the only answer to generating tax revenue for the Federal Government.

Lincoln started an “Internal Revenue” agency in 1862 when the population of the US was 27 million and tax dollars were needed for the war effort. America’s population is now 330 million and growing. Current IRS collection schemes are an IMPOSSIBLE situation !!!

[P.O.E.]

The bureaucrats get paid no matter what.

[mowowie]

it’s been months of waiting but now i think i see my paperwork sitting eight rows back..

[null and void]

ping

[existentially_kuffer]

I chuckle at the looney left being void of reality when they go after Big Tech. Big Oil, etc but dead cold silent on Big Government.

[TimSkalaBim]

The most lavishly funded tax collection agency in the universe.

Every IRS complaint made in this article is a reason to eliminate the agency and go to a different system.

[oldbill]

Only solution is a flat tax on all income.
ALL income - wages, dividends, winnings, inheritances, interest, stock options - whatever you took in from January 1st to December 31st.

The rich can hide most of their income under current rules, which they and their politician servants write.

The perfect tax code would have a fixed rate for all income after allowing a base exclusion for essential living costs, say the first $10,000.

Gone are all the 1099, W2, etc. forms.
The 1040 would be 3 lines: Total income, minus $10,000, your tax.

[RedElement]

It is actually basic incompetence. My small business had a change of status, which incurred a small increased tax. Filed the paperwork and paid the tax. They refunded the tax. Because they hadn’t processed the paperwork. 14 mos later, they still haven’t processed the paperwork. Waiting for them to finally do so, and then stick me with penalty and interest for not paying the tax on time.

[ConservativeInPA]

It's not underfunded. It's not understaffed. They are typical lazy ass government workers counting the days until retirement. (By the way, they do that starting at age 20).

As I have written many times before, eliminate all taxes on the books and go to a flat consumption tax collected by the states. Everyone pays on purchases of new products and services. No business taxes. After all, consumers indirectly pay business taxes. Let's get efficient and productive.

No more IRS. No more Democrats using the IRS as a weapon against conservatives. Fire every single one of their useless asses. They can go and work in the private sector and build something real.

[SaveFerris]

Dude....you’re so.......taxing.....

🤪

[KevinB]

That is because I pay my tax on 4/15 and not BEFORE! They certainly have enough people to cash my check. You stupid shits that expect refunds, had better figure it out.

You must really enjoy the interest and penalties for underpayment of estimated taxes then.

[mowowie]

Back around 2000 i used to do computer service work at the large IRS building In Andover, MA. once in a while.
At the time i used to service many private companies and government But walking into the IRS was like a time warp.
The oldest, filthiest computers that i would ever work on.
It was amazing that they got stuff done..

People watch TV and see the Government with all this high tech sci-fi stuff and that was NEVER the case in the places i worked....the opposite.

[boycott]

The backlog could be intentional. If you remember, biden wanted to hire 80,000 new IRS agents.

He just wanted to add these people to the deep-state. Give them enough benefits and security to where they’ll do whatever it takes to keep the deep-state in power. They’ll get their share of the pie at whatever cost to the rest of us.

[ArcadeQuarters]

Got my federal refund by direct deposit in only about 2 weeks. The county paper check took 2 months. I’d forgotten about it when it showed up.

[Presbyterian Reporter]

“””The backlog could be intentional. If you remember, biden wanted to hire 80,000 new IRS agents. He just wanted to add these people to the deep-state.”””

---

And those of us who have been critics of the IRS in this thread have probably been moved up on the list for the IRS to investigate.

[Mr. K]

I ha ve been trying to get in touch with them for 2 months

[gitmo]

Switch to a national retail sales tax and cancel the income tax. Lot less paper. And the black market money gets taxed like any other money. And poor people pay taxes (as they should).

How would a national retail sales tax apply to the black market? If I buy some dope from a guy’s trunk, is he going to collect tax & send it in? Or if I pay someone cash for produce he grew, what makes him send in the tax?