IRS quiet on payment processing delays despite more reports of bills being sent for taxes paid
Despite continuing reports of taxpayers receiving bills from the IRS for taxes they already paid on time, the agency has remained quiet about the problem and when it could be resolved.
CBS News Chicago has been checking in daily with the IRS for the past week about the processing delays as more people say they are getting IRS notices.
Jasmine Walton and her family had to pay $7,000 in taxes this year. It was a painful bill to deal with once, but twice?
"I will tell you, initially it sent us into a little bit of a panic," she said. "We are counting every penny that leaves our household, so to tell us we owe additional thousands on top of thousands we've paid already? It almost sent us into a tizzy."
Adding insult to injury, the bill the Waltons got from the IRS already had penalties and fines tacked onto it, even though they paid what they owed before the April 15 deadline and the money hasn't been in their account since.
"Watching that news segment and finding out we were not alone did give us some resolve," Walton said.
Like so many others we've heard from since first exposing this IRS issue last week, Walton learned she was part of a bigger problem through CBS News Chicago reporting.
An IRS agent told our producer, who was also impacted by the mistake, their electronic payment system I experiencing delays processing money sent in by April 15. They said they should be caught up by June 29, and made assurances penalties and interest would be erased.
But why is this happening, and for transparency's sake, why isn't the information being shared directly from the IRS online?
"Update your website," Walton said. "It takes a marginal amount of time to put a nice banner up there saying we are behind you may receive communication in error."
An Inspector General for Tax Inspection report released this spring detailed an 11% reduction of staff at the IRS, with about 7,000 of those workers being probationary and thus possibly have had their jobs restored. But despite asking the IRS about that, we have yet to receive any clarification.
"My ask is for them to fix it," Walton said.
We were originally told the IRS would "hopefully" have information to share last Wednesday, but nothing has been sent to us since.
CBS News Chicago talked with an IRS spokesperson by phone Tuesday and they told us they're still working on a response to our questions and requests. They have not provided a timeline for when those responses would be ready.
We asked U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois ) if she has heard from her constituents about this issue and she responded with a statement, writing, "My office has seen increased response times from federal agencies like the IRS for months now – and thanks to the effects of unnecessary and damaging DOGE cuts, it's likely to only get worse in the years to come. If Illinoisans are having issues with a federal agency like IRS, I urge them to contact my office so we can help them get the money they're owed or reverse any unfair penalties caused by these delays."
U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky also issued a statement on the IRS payment processing delays:
"Under the leadership of President Joe Biden, the IRS was able to recover over $1 billion in past-due taxes from billionaires thanks to the additional resources from the Inflation Reduction Act. It should come as no surprise that the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), under the direction of billionaire Elon Musk, made the IRS one of its targets and stripped the IRS of staff and resources. The American people want their government to work effectively, efficiently, and quickly, but DOGE and Donald Trump are more focused on starving our government of the resources we need so they can cut taxes for billionaires and help them avoid paying taxes. I will keep fighting to restore the IRS's full funding to give Americans the certainty they need. If any constituents are experiencing issues with the IRS, please feel free to reach out to my office."
Update: On June 12, 2025 at 2 p.m, the IRS responded to CBS News Chicago with a statement on the delays:
Processing tax payments is a top priority for the IRS. IRS is timely negotiating checks and payments with financial institutions. There is a delay in processing payments that need additional handling to ensure they post to the taxpayers account correctly. Taxpayers may monitor the status of their payments by viewing the payments activity page in their IRS online account where they will be able to view their payment history as well as pending payments that are being processed. If a taxpayer has checked their online account and does not see the payment processed by July 15th, they may call the number on their notice.
