Rep. Barry Moore fights against IRS backlogs for American taxpayers

Statement

Rep. Barry Moore (AL-02) joined his colleagues to introduce the IRS PRIORITIES Act to demand the IRS address the staggering backlog of over 8 million unprocessed tax returns. The bill would also bar the IRS from hiring any new enforcement officers until the backlogs of the past two years are processed.

"President Biden clearly does not have a plan to address the historic backlog at the IRS, and it's time for Congress to step in and ensure hard-working Americans recover the money they already earned," said Rep. Barry Moore. "We must ensure that the IRS actually does its job of assisting taxpayers with the convoluted tax code, before even considering hiring any more enforcement officers."

Background

As of December 23, 2021, the IRS continued to have a backlog of 6 million individual tax returns and 2.3 million amended individual tax returns unprocessed from Tax Years (TY) 2019 and 2020. Due to the excessive backlog, IRS's Taxpayer Advocate Service will not accept cases solely involving amended tax returns, thereby leaving millions of Americans without the help paid for by their taxes. Instead of prioritizing this backlog and the taxpayer, President Biden has made it clear in his Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 budget proposal and the Build Back Better Act that his priority is on turning the IRS into a surveillance and enforcement watchdog. The IRS PRIORITIES Act, or the IRS Processing Returns Instead Of Removing Innocent Taxpayers' Income Every Season Act, will ensure that taxpayers are prioritized, not unaccountable bureaucrats.

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