OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ) – Have you received a tax refund from the IRS? If not, you’re not alone.
There are a number of Wisconsinites who have yet to receive their tax returns, and Senator Ron Johnson says the number of those filing complaints about it has also been going up. His office has received over 1,300 phone calls or emails complaining about the fact that people haven’t seen the refunds, they’re not getting answers from the IRS, and they can’t even get them on the phone.
That influx of complaints prompted Johnson to write a letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig on July 26th.
“Unfortunately, and this isn’t a big surprise, we haven’t got a response from the commissioner. But only been a couple weeks, and in government response time [laughs], that’s not a long time,” Johnson told WTAQ News. “Hopefully the commissioner will respond positively and they’ll up their game, and Wisconsinites and Americans will start getting better service with the IRS.”
Right now, the agency still has a number of people working remotely – and issuing tax refunds isn’t the only major task they’re facing.
“This is all great in theory – the people are working remotely. Remote work does work in some cases, but not all that well in others…The IRS is also been burdened with the all the COVID relief. The direct payment checks, three rounds of those, so they had to set up systems there as well,” Johnson said. “I sympathize with their situation, but it’s time for the IRS to least answer my letter. One of the reasons I wrote the letter was just to create pressure on the IRS commissioner to start addressing this issue.”
But Johnson’s beef with the Internal Revenue Service isn’t just related to remote work and the additional COVID-related responsibilities.
“They don’t have the pressure of a competitive system that requires them to provide better customer service. I think it’s always been an ongoing problem with the IRS, but then COVID and COVID relief packages put a pretty big strain on the IRS as well,” Johnson explained. “[It’s] definitely a one-sided relationship here. There’s little to no forgiveness granted to taxpayers if they’re a little late, but from the standpoint of the IRS’ performance, there’s not much pressure. So it’s not a fair process…No matter who’s running the administration, whether it’s a Republican or Democrat president, government agencies and government bureaucracies really don’t feel much pressure respond to congressional oversight. Which is why I keep at it, trying to get the answers.”
As for the exact number of Wisconsinites and Americans who have yet to receive their refunds? Johnson says to not hold your breath to find out.
“There’s really no way of knowing that. The IRS might have that information, but again, they haven’t responded to me and I don’t think they’d readily provide that information either.”
To find your refund status, head to IRS.gov. If you’re concerned about not receiving the return, you too can contact Senator Johnson’s office.
