IRS plans to hire 10,000 workers to relieve massive backlog

By FATIMA HUSSEIN
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The IRS is announcing plans to hire 10,000 new workers to help reduce a massive backlog that the Biden administration says will make this tax season the most challenging in history. The IRS plan to work down the tens of millions of filings includes speeding up the traditionally slow hiring process, relying more on automated processes and bringing on more contract workers to help with mailroom and paper processing. The agency faces a backlog of around 20 million pieces of correspondence, which is more than 15 times as large as in a normal filing season. And the IRS workforce is the same size it was in 1970.