‘Groundhog Day’ at IRS: Returns pile up, phone delays worsen

WASHINGTON (AP) — An IRS watchdog says customer service issues are worsening at the tax-return-processing agency. A new report from the National Taxpayer Advocate says taxpayers are experiencing longer wait times on the phone, there’s an even bigger backlog of paper returns than there was a year ago, and delays in processing paper returns have been running six months to one year. The report on taxpayer challenges is submitted twice a year to Congress. The latest edition comes one day after the Internal Revenue Service announced that it is on track to eliminate its 2021 backlog of tax returns.