Early Bird Still Catches Tax Refunds As IRS Woes Mount

Finance media stories are warning those expecting a federal income tax refund better claim it asap or else maybe wait a long time for the cash since IRS’s return backlog is only getting worse with lingering Covid-induced labor shortages; politics & the agency’s antiquated computer system isn’t helping.

Recall the tax refund delays last tax season as the April 15 filing deadline approached. The Washington Post at the time bemoaned “staffing shortages and broken equipment” while NBC reported “a lack of working computers & printers at IRS offices” as another reason. Instead of seeking emergency funding from Congress to fix the immediate problem of 60-year-old computers dating back to the airing of “McHale’s Navy,” the Biden Administration last Spring got caught up in an “audit expansion” debate centering around how to help pay for its multi-trillion dollar Build Back Better program critics saw as a progressive pigfest that needed roasting; “privacy” advocates also worried about Big Brother overstepping its need (as well as right) to raise revenues so as to use it to harass or even punish political opponents.

It’s complicated. Yet, the old saw remains the best tax advice for now: “The early bird (most likely) catches the refund.”

Davd Soul