For IRS, backlogs and identity theft are still problems despite funding boost, watchdog says

WASHINGTON (AP) — The IRS is still too slow in processing amended tax returns, answering taxpayer phone calls and resolving identity theft cases, according to an independent watchdog within the agency.

The federal tax collector needs to improve its processing and taxpayer correspondence issues despite a massive boost in funding provided by the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act, according to an annual report Wednesday to Congress from Erin M. Collins, who leads the organization assigned to protect taxpayers’ rights under the Taxpayer Bill of Rights.

The report servs as a reality check of sorts as IRS leaders say the funding boost is producing big improvements in services to taxpayers. GOP critics, meanwhile, are trying try to claw back some of the money and painting the agency as an over-zealous enforcer of the tax code.

The IRS is experiencing “extraordinary delays” in assisting identity theft victims, taking nearly 19 months to resolve self-reported cases, which the report calls “unconscionable” since a delay in receiving a refund can worsen financial hardships.

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