update 10/15/21 as of 10/9/21 - unprocessed individual returns are now down to 7.1 million. wonder what the number is as of 10/15 because I know from years of experience that many taxpayers wait to file until 10/15. apparently doesn't include 2.8 million amended returns.
but the IRS is saying
Unprocessed individual returns include tax year 2020 returns with errors and those returns requiring special handling such as those that require correction to the Recovery Rebate Credit amount or validation of 2019 income used to figure the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC). This work does not require us to correspond with taxpayers but does require special handling by an IRS employee so, in these instances, it is taking the IRS more than 21 days to issue any related refund and in some cases this work could take 90 to 120 days.
Does this mean that taxpayers who filed very late may have to wait until 2/15/2022 to get their refunds. is it being overly optimistic?
