Amended tax returns continue to be backlogged. Typically, taxpayers can expect amended tax returns to be processed within 16 weeks. However, as of December 11, 2021, the IRS has a backlog of more than 2.4 million amended tax returns waiting to be processed by available staff. The IRS’s National Tax Advocate agency has reported that amended tax returns are currently taking significantly longer than 20 weeks to be processed and for any related refunds to be issued to taxpayers. The IRS has advised taxpayers not to file a second amended tax return nor contact the IRS customer service call lines to inquire about the status of these tax returns. Unfortunately, “patience” seems to be the only option available to taxpayers. Taxpayers can visit the following IRS link to check on the status of their amended tax returns. https://www.irs.gov/filing/wheres-my-amended-return
Additionally, as of December 10, 2021 the IRS reports having 6.2 million personal tax returns for 2020 still being unprocessed due to the COVID labor shortage at IRS offices. Many of these delays pertain to verifying the Recovery Rebate Credit and Additional Child Tax Credit on tax returns already filed. Such delays are taking 90 – 120 days for the IRS to resolve. Typical turnaround times for processing personal tax returns is 21 days. Taxpayers can visit the following IRS link to check on the status of their personal tax returns. https://www.irs.gov/refunds