IRS to hire 10,000 workers to help with tax return backlog
A view of an IRS 1040 Tax Form on a Laptop computer screen being prepared for an electronic filing. Robert Barnes, Getty Images
The IRS is taking steps to relieve the backlog of tax returns.
The agency plans to hire 10,000 new full-time workers to play a direct role in that mission, according to Politico.
There are millions of unprocessed tax returns and other mail from individual and business taxpayers, according to the union that represents most of the IRS workforce.
The hiring process is scheduled to run through Dec. 31, 2023 and was first reported by the Washington Post.
RELATED: Tax season 2022: What you need to know about filing your taxes
An effort to hire 5,000 new employees has fallen flat with less than 200 workers brought on board.
The new plan "sounds like an extension of that plan and its logic," said Chad Hooper, president of the Professional Managers Association, a group that represents non-union personnel.
While he didn't have the details of the plan, Hooper seemed skeptical about how easily it could be fulfilled.
"It’s unclear where the IRS believes these future employees are," Hooper said.
There is a massive accumulation of paperwork going back to last year still awaiting processing, according to the report.
The mountain of paperwork includes at least 10 million individual tax returns and 4 million business tax returns, holding up refunds and credits going back to last year.
RELATED: IRS to end facial recognition for identity verification
Starting this month, the IRS shifted 1,200 workers from their current jobs to deal with the backlog.
The IRS workforce currently sits at about 80,000, according to its website.