Source: United States Senator for New Jersey Bob Menendez
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), alongside Congressman Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.-09), today led a bicameral group of 19 colleagues in urging the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to halt its long-standing plan to close the IRS’ Austin Tax Processing Center as the agency faces growing delays in the processing of unprocessed tax returns and Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) applications.
“We are concerned to learn that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is still considering closing its Austin Tax Processing Center, despite the immense backlog in unprocessed tax returns and Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) applications, continued customer service issues, and staffing challenges facing the IRS,” the lawmakers wrote to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig. “We write to echo the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration’s (TIGTA) recommendation that the IRS postpone the closure of this facility until hiring challenges and processing backlogs are adequately addressed.”
The lawmakers acknowledged that the closure of the Austin facility is part of a long-standing plan to consolidate paper return processing at the agency and decrease costs. Given the extensive paper backlog and hiring challenges that have plagued the agency for the last two filing seasons, the lawmakers emphasized that “the IRS go further than a ‘strategic pause’ that was announced on June 14, 2021, and announce that it is no longer considering closing the Austin Tax Processing Center until the current processing issues are addressed.”
The lawmakers also expressed deep concerns about how closing the Austin processing facility would affect eligible-immigrants waiting for the IRS to process their ITIN applications.
“We are also concerned that closing the Austin Tax Processing Center will further delay the processing of applications for ITINs, as this facility is the only facility that processes ITIN applications,” the lawmakers added. “According to a TIGTA report released earlier this year, the processing times for ITIN applications have doubled over the past two years, due to the fact that all ITIN processing was closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic from March 25, 2020 to June 1, 2020. This has led to increased wait times for applicants applying for an ITIN to pay their taxes and/or receive the Child Tax Credit (CTC) or advanced CTC.”
The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) supports the letter.
“Frontline IRS employees represented by NTEU, now working on the third tax filing season of the pandemic, fully support the recommendation from Sen. Menendez, Sen. Cortez Masto, Rep. Pascrell, Rep. Doggett, and their colleagues that the IRS not shut down the Austin Tax Processing Center,” said Tony Reardon, National President of the National Treasury Employees. “This is a practical step the IRS can take immediately to make sure skilled employees in Austin stay on the job and continue working on the agency’s backlog. As the lawmakers noted, the IRS needs additional long-term investments in funding and staffing to rebuild from a decade of deep cuts, and it needs to hold onto the employees it already has in Austin as the IRS works to improve services to taxpayers.”
Sen. Menendez today also led a bicameral group of 45 colleagues in urging the IRS to allow additional employees to volunteer to join surge teams at the agency and to pursue maximum overtime options for all staff working to address the significant delays in processing tax returns. Earlier this week, the Senator urged Commissioner Rettig to address concerns he and several of his colleagues have about the continued involvement between the IRS and ID.me, particularly as it relates to the disproportionate harm such facial recognition technology can have on minority and low-income communities.
Last month, Sen. Menendez led more than 200 colleagues in a bipartisan and bicameral call for the IRS to provide penalty relief for taxpayers. This spurred the agency to address some of the most pressing issues facing taxpayers by temporarily halting a slew of penalty notifications. Sen. Menendez also urged IRS Commissioner Rettig last year to keep phone lines open while addressing the unprecedented backlog of unprocessed returns and to take concrete steps that will allow the IRS to resume basic functions such as answering phones, providing quality online and in-person services, and processing returns in a timely manner.
In the Senate, joining Menendez and Cortez Masto in signing the letter were Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). Joining Pascrell and Doggett in the House were Lucille Roybal Allard (D-Calif.-40), Judy Chu (D-Calif.-27), Chuy García (D-Ill.-04), Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.-05), Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.-47), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Frank Pallone (D-N.J.-06), Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.-20), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.-08), Deborah Ross (D-N.C.-02), Bobby Scott (D-Va.-03), and Darren Soto (D-Fla.-09).
The full letter can be found below and HERE.
Dear Commissioner Rettig,
We are concerned to learn that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is still considering closing its Austin Tax Processing Center, despite the immense backlog in unprocessed tax returns and Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) applications, continued customer service issues, and staffing challenges facing the IRS. Accordingly, we write to echo the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration’s (TIGTA) recommendation that the IRS postpone the closure of this facility until hiring challenges and processing backlogs are adequately addressed.[1]
As you are aware, the closure of the Austin facility is part of a long-standing plan to consolidate paper return processing at the agency and decrease costs. While we understand that these consolidation efforts are guided by the declining trend in the number of paper returns and a cost savings of $94 million, we believe that these efforts no longer make sense—especially given the extensive paper backlog and hiring challenges that have plagued the IRS for the last two filing seasons. We ask that the IRS go further than a “strategic pause” that was announced on June 14, 2021, and announce that it is no longer considering closing the Austin Tax Processing Center until the current processing issues are addressed, as TIGTA has recommended.
We are also concerned that closing the Austin Tax Processing Center will further delay the processing of applications for ITINs, as this facility is the only facility that processes ITIN applications. According to a TIGTA report released earlier this year, the processing times for ITIN applications have doubled over the past two years, due to the fact that all ITIN processing was closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic from March 25, 2020 to June 1, 2020.[2] This has led to increased wait times for applicants applying for an ITIN to pay their taxes and/or receive the Child Tax Credit (CTC) or advanced CTC.[3] Accordingly, given the increased wait times for these applications, we ask that the IRS halt its plans to close the Austin Tax Processing Center, in order to reduce the application wait-times for these applicants.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. We look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
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