The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is reporting that the IRS needed nearly a month to process paper tax returns this tax filing season, double the amount of time as last year. The reason: reduced staffing and unavailable processing systems due in part to recent staff losses that delayed programming updates. The IRS sent about half of paper returns to outside vendors to scan. Refunds were also delayed for some taxpayers. Under a 2025 executive order, the IRS began phasing out paper check refunds. As a result, the tax agency delayed millions of refunds for taxpayers who hadn’t provided direct deposit information. For more details https://bit.ly/4qbrXWf
