However, Rettig cautioned that "enormous challenges" faced by the IRS due to severe levels of understaffing will cause delays in many aspects of IRS operations, including sending out refund checks.
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The IRS said Monday that the 2022 filing season will begin on January 24. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI
Agency officials said they are entering the new filing season with an unaddressed backlog of "several times" the typical level of 1 million unprocessed returns.
The agency was also overwhelmed by a record volume of telephone calls seeking assistance, according to National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins.
The recent wave of staffing issues caused by the pandemic have come in addition to a decade of significant budget cuts to the agency. From 2010 through 2018, IRS funding was cut by 20% in inflation-adjusted dollars, resulting in the elimination of 22% of its staff, the Congressional Budget Office estimated in 2020.