Most U.S. taxpayers know to expect tax refund delays. However, those who lost loved ones will have an even tougher tax season in 2022.

According to Business Insider, Amber Marino’s father died in February 2021, but she still pays $8 a month to keep his bank account open. She does so in hopes of receiving a tax refund from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). “It’s just sitting there,” the thirty-nine-year-old from Tennessee told the news outlet.

Marino filed for an extension while waiting on court paperwork that would grant her the ability to collect a refund on her late father’s behalf. After sending the paperwork through certified mail in June, the documents arrived not long after. “​​Then I waited—and I continue to wait,” Marino said.

"It’s really awful. It’s overwhelming,” she continued, adding that she called the IRS every day for two weeks but never connected with a representative. 

Budget and Staffing Issues

Unfortunately, Marino’s story isn’t unique. In a recent op-ed published by Yahoo News, IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig acknowledged that the agency has been dealing with acute staffing shortages. Compared to 2010, the IRS has roughly 20,000 fewer employees and 20 percent less funding to perform the same mission.  Moreover, the present staffing is roughly equal to the agency’s staffing level in the 1970s. “Without long-term, predictable funding, the IRS will continue to face severe limitations, unable to provide the service taxpayers deserve and need,” Rettig wrote.

In addition, National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins recently told members of the Senate Finance Committee that the IRS needs to get to a “stable and healthy condition so it can perform its core mission.”

Millions of Backlogged Returns

Given the millions of backlogged tax returns and other documents, including written correspondence that will require manual processing, it’s not surprising that many still haven’t received their tax refunds.

“We have taken extraordinary measures to work through unprocessed returns and correspondence, including mandatory overtime by IRS employees, creating and redirecting surge teams to address the inventories, temporarily suspending certain automated compliance notices and, where possible, modernizing operating systems to accelerate the manual processing of inventories,” Rettig wrote.

“Millions are waiting for their returns to be processed, and many won’t be able to reach us when they call with questions this filing season. This is frustrating for taxpayers and for us. We want to do more, but we face great challenges,” he added.

Lastly, Collins noted that the IRS is also establishing a “second surge team to put additional resources on the processing challenges.” These measures will hopefully help people like Amber Marino collect benefits that are owed to them.

Ethen Kim Lieser is a Washington state-based Science and Tech Editor who has held posts at Google, The Korea Herald, Lincoln Journal Star, AsianWeek, and Arirang TV. Follow or contact him on LinkedIn.

Image: Reuters.