Ok... let me put you in the IRS's shoes.
They know how many returns will normally come in during the season and so they tried to staff properly to handle the volume. And they are still playing catch up with the 2019 returns that were left over from last tax season.
But like everyone else they could not get enough seasonal staff due to the extended unemployment benefits that were paying people more to stay at home so why would they go back to work? Of course once qualified staff are eventually hired they also have to be trained which takes time... this is not like McDonald's where they can learn to flip burgers in 2 hours. And of course let's not forget the Covid workplace restrictions that still must be observed. FYI ... 1/2 of the IRS staff are hired seasonally and the full time annual staff has been reduced due to budget cuts every year for more than a decade.
Then in LATE December you are told by the Congress that you need to also put out a second stimulus check in less than 6 weeks (actually took 2+ months) and incorporate tax law changes. Changes to forms and instructions take time to develop and distribute... remember a change on one form has a cascade affect thru more forms. Technical computer code need to be written, implemented and test before it can be sent out to all the tax prep companies who also have to be implemented and tested for errors and system compatibility before the IRS will approve them for use ... this is nothing that can be done overnight.
Now after the original return has been processed (and the original refund is issued) the IRS must then review the millions of returns that have the new Recovery Rebate Credit (reconciling of the first 2 stimulus payments) on line 30 of the form 1040 and also verify the 2019 earned income if the taxpayer was using it to get a bigger EIC or CTC on the 2020 return since this cannot be done by computers alone... another strain on the reduced human capacity.
And if that wasn't enough ...
THEN.... mid March congress passes MORE tax law changes some of which were retroactive to 2020 AND they must issue a THIRD stimulus check. And not only issue them once ... as the 2020 returns are filed they must check to see if a PLUS UP payment needs to be sent out so folks don't have to wait to file the 2021 return to get the credit. AND the IRS is forced to recalculate all the returns that had already been filed to that point that have unemployment & PTC on them (basically processing them twice) and of course this process required human attention thus what staff they could hire and train are stretch even thinner.
And due to the confusion surrounding these changes, millions of unneeded amended returns have also flooded the amendment processing departments that were still trying to process prior year returns which means amended returns that normally process within 4 months are now expected to take 6 to 8 months or much longer like last year.
But wait ... there's more !!!
The same strained IRS now is tasked to also issue MONTHLY advanced CTC payments ... a totally new situation which required more computer changes and a new portal system to be opened. Changes and information on the new system are being added or changed weekly as evidenced by the IRS FAQs here: https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/2021-child-tax-credit-and-advance-child-tax-credit-payments-f...
So I think we all need to be patient while the understaffed, underfunded, overtasked IRS do the best they can will less funding, less staff and aging computer systems. These have been unprecedented times with the Covid situation so everyone needs to have some patience and understanding while we get thru these trying times.
If you want to do something complain to your federal congress person and tell them to properly fund the IRS and stop making late tax law changes the mess up the filing season. Changes should be made more timely so that programmers and taxpayers can be ready for them in time for the next filing season.
