U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR) introduced a bill that would prohibit the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from hiring additional tax enforcement personnel until all tax returns from the past two years are processed.
The IRS Processing Returns Instead of Removing Innocent Taxpayers’ Income Every Season (PRIORITIES) Act is designed to address the IRS’s backlog of more than 8 million unprocessed individual tax returns from the 2019 and 2020 tax years. Due to the backlog, IRS’s Taxpayer Advocate Service will not accept cases solely involving amended tax returns.
“The IRS has had two years to process the backlog with no progress. It is now time for Congress to step in and ensure that the American people receive their hard-earned tax dollars the IRS has held for up to two years. This bill sets IRS priorities straight by ensuring the IRS performs its most basic function of processing returns in a timely manner. This backlog holds many individuals who need tax return information to take out a mortgage and, in many cases, apply for loans through the Small Business Administration in limbo. It is time to hold the IRS accountable and end this unacceptable backlog,” Westerman said.
The IRS PRIORITIES Act is co-sponsored by U.S. Reps. Fred Keller (R-PA), David McKinley (R-WV), Bob Latta (R-OH), Mary Miller (R-IL), Tim Burchett (R-TN), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), Bob Good (R-VA), Glenn Thompson (R-PA), Barry Moore (R-AL), Buddy Carter (R-GA), French Hill (R-AR), and Louie Gohmert (R-TX).
“With a massive two-year backlog of unprocessed tax returns, the Internal Revenue Service should be focused on delivering those returns to the American people,” Keller said. “Instead, President Biden has made it clear he wants to weaponize the IRS by hiring 80,000 new enforcers to spy on hardworking taxpayers. I am glad to join Congressman Westerman in co-leading this legislation to ensure the IRS gets its priorities straight.”