The IRS has a 44 Day Backlog: What It Really Means for Your Clients
The Internal Revenue Service is clawing its way out of a 44-day backlog caused by the government shutdown in October.
It’s a slow-moving traffic jam that's freezing refunds, stalling audits, delaying return processing, and making collections completely unpredictable.
Tax delays bleed into mortgage approvals. They stall divorce settlements. They derail business plans. They keep payroll credits and refunds trapped in limbo.
To understand how this 44-day backlog shows up in the real world, there are five dynamics every advisor should understand.
1. Refund Delays Are No Longer Short-Term Inconveniences
For individual clients, refunds are often treated as timing issues—annoying, but manageable. That assumption breaks down quickly when refunds are delayed by months or even a year.
The current backlog means refunds that were already severely delayed are now being delayed even further. Refund speeds have significantly slowed down and become completely unpredictable. A delay is a big problem for clients who rely on refunds to pay down debt, fund escrow, or stabilize cash flow.
Utilizing the taxpayer advocate service is an option, but they lost a large portion of their personnel. Plus, they're backed up as well.
2. Business Cash Flow Gets Quietly Choked
For business owners, IRS delays create uncertainty.
Payroll tax forms, amended filings, and credit claims are all in the same sludge. When that pipeline slows, businesses lose the ability to reconcile books, forecast cash, or rely on expected inflows.
Even profitable companies can end up frozen—unable to plan because confirmations, credits, or determinations haven’t posted.
3. Audits Stretch Out, Stress Multiplies
Audits were already slow. The backlog makes them even slower. That's especially true for correspondence audits, where you're at the mercy of an amorphous group of overburdened auditors with no one individual assigned to the case.
Extended uncertainty can be even more damaging than the outcome itself. Businesses can plan around bad news but if they don't know what's coming down the pike, they can't make decisions at all.
4. Paper Is Now a Liability, Not a Preference
Paper filings were slow before the shutdown. Now they’re a crapshoot.
Processing timelines are already long. A 44-day backlog is the cherry on top. Clients have no reasonable expectation as to when paper returns will finally be processed, which means collections negotiations are put on hold.
The situation worsens for clients who already have other debts that the IRS is aggressively pursuing. Dealing with current debts and tax debts from unprocessed returns at the same time is a nightmare and sometimes creates an unresolvable situation.
5. “Back to Normal” Doesn’t Mean What Clients Think It Means
Officially, the IRS states that it has resumed normal operations; however, "normal" now encompasses a significant backlog of unresolved work. The IRS says time-sensitive matters will get prioritized. Everything else waits.
Government intentions aren't always reality. Can you rely on the IRS to be on top of issues with specific deadlines? I wouldn't.
This atmosphere of unpredictability gives clients anxiety. And it should.
Inevitably, clients will start getting nervous and frustrated, which turns into questions like:
“Why hasn’t this been resolved yet?”
“We sent everything months ago.”
“Nothing is happening and you, nor the IRS, can explain why.”
What they’re feeling isn’t just confusion; it’s loss of control. And that’s where trusted advisors become of the utmost importance.
TL;DR
⏩ The IRS is dealing with a 44-day processing backlog from the shutdown
⏩ Refunds, credits, audits, and collections are all not only moving slower but also with unpredictability.
⏩ Delays spill into cash flow, closings, and business decisions
⏩ Paper filings are especially vulnerable
⏩ “Normal operations” still include months of accumulated work
➥ Contact Attorney Stephen A. Weisberg for a free Tax Debt Analysis.
Contact Me Here: https://www.weisberg.tax/contact-1
Email: sweisberg@wtaxattorney.com
Phone/Text: (248) 971-0885
Address: 300 Galleria Officentre, Suite 402, Southfield, MI 48034
