National Taxpayer Advocate On Math Error - Part 1

In a previous blog, Lifecycle of a Tax Return, we set out the initial stages of a return’s journey once it’s been filed, including certain detours a return may take as it goes through reviews prior to being posted on IRS systems. One of these detours is a review by the IRS’s Error Resolution System (ERS) where the return is reviewed for possible errors or omissions. This filing season ERS has experienced a significant backlog causing delays in refunds.

To verify the accuracy of the Recovery Rebate Credit (RRC), Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Child Tax Credit (CTC) or Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC), the ERS Unit is manually reviewing all returns where the taxpayer has claimed the RRC or used their 2019 earnings for the purpose of calculating the EITC, CTC, and ACTC. For more details on the backlog in processing returns, see the National Taxpayer Advocate’s 2022 Objectives Report to Congress, Review of the 2021 Filing Season.

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