As of May 21, the IRS said it is now opening mail within normal timeframes and has also “made significant progress in processing Forms 941” [IRS Newsroom, What You Can Expect, 5-21-21].
As of May 6, the agency had about 200,000 Forms 941, Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return, received prior to 2021 to process and a total of 1.9 million unprocessed Forms 941 from the current and previous years waiting to be opened. As of May 7, the IRS had approximately 100,000 unprocessed Forms 941-X, Adjusted Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return or Claim for Refund, which cannot be processed until the related Forms 941 are processed.
The IRS is taking actions to minimize delays, including rerouting tax returns and correspondence from locations that are behind to locations where more staff is available. Tax returns are opened in the order they are received.
No Further Action Needed
Employers that filed electronically and received an acknowledgement do not need to take any further action other than responding to any requests for information.
The IRS requested that employers do not file a second tax return or contact the IRS about the return’s status.
To learn more about federal and state laws, regulations, and information to keep your company's payroll operations in compliance, check out Payroll Source Plus!
Jyme Mariani, Esq., is Managing Editor of Payroll Currently and Payroll Information Resources for the APA.
