The Treasury Department and the IRS are beginning to warn taxpayers of possible delays during this year’s tax filing season, which begins on January 24th, 2022. We are reaching out to inform you of the causes of these possible delays, while also providing you with some tips to try to minimize these delays as much as possible.
These potential delays are a result of the IRS starting the tax season with millions of tax returns and pieces of mail still needing to be processed. They are significantly further behind compared to prior years, due to being tasked with administering various stimulus payments and other programs, while also dealing with staffing shortages, during the pandemic.
These delays have caused, and will continue to cause, taxpayers to be frustrated with the IRS and the time it’s taking for their returns to be processed. Americans visited the IRS website to learn the status of their tax refunds more than 630 million times in 2021 while also calling more than 240 million times to a group of fewer than 15,000 employees available to take those calls. If you plan on calling the IRS with questions or for the status of your tax return, be patient and prepared to wait.
In order to try and minimize the amount of time your tax return is delayed, the IRS is urging Americans to file their 2021 tax return as soon as possible. The IRS plans on taxpayers receiving their refunds within 21 days if they file electronically, file accurately, and choose to receive their refund through direct deposit.
The IRS will be sending out letters in January reporting the stimulus check and advanced child tax credit payment information to be used to accurately prepare your tax return. In 2021, the IRS had problems with millions of tax returns that included discrepancies and errors. That included 11 million math errors that had to be manually reviewed. This year, the IRS is warning that inaccurate reporting of stimulus checks and the advanced child tax credit may lead to math errors that will further delay the processing for tax filers.
Here at ATBS, we recommend owner-operator truck drivers begin to gather their tax information now. You may not receive your 1099 until the end of January, but that doesn’t mean you have to wait to gather your other financial information, documents, and receipts.
If you are looking for assistance in filing your taxes this year, we’re here to help. We’ll ensure your taxes are filed accurately and correctly to try to get your return processed as quickly as possible. The earlier you begin the process with us, the sooner we’ll be able to file your taxes.
If you have any questions or are interested in having us help you file your 2021 taxes, please give us a call at (866) 920-2827, request a call from us, or email us at info@atbs.com. We will continue to provide you with updates if we receive more information from the IRS about timelines or delays.