June 27, 2025

Duckworth Leads Delegation of Illinois Members of Congress in Calling on IRS to Fix Erroneous Late Payment Notices

 

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) led Illinois’s Congressional Democrats in demanding answers from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on why Illinoisans are receiving notices of late payment in error after filing—and paying—their taxes on time. Following  reporting earlier this month revealing that Illinoisans were receiving late payment notices and penalties from the IRS even though they had already filed and paid their taxes, and were then unable to get answers or responses from the IRS about those notices and penalties, the lawmakers wrote to IRS Commissioner William Long to learn how many Illinoisans have been affected and how IRS staffing cuts have impacted the agency’s ability to properly function.

“Over the last few weeks, we have heard from a number of Illinoisans that they are receiving late notices from your agency, despite previous confirmations of submission and payment,” the lawmakers wrote. “To make matters worse, the late notices also include penalties and fines, which further heightens the urgency for taxpayers to resolve the issue. Not only is it unacceptable that the IRS has failed to process tax payments in a timely manner—the failure to prevent erroneous late notices from being sent is incredibly damaging to taxpayers’ trust in the IRS.”

Since Donald Trump’s return to office, reckless and damaging DOGE cuts caused the IRS to fire more than 7,000 probationary employees and let over 20,000 employees leave through multiple deferred resignation programs.

In their letter, the lawmakers are requesting the following information from IRS:

  1. How many Illinois taxpayers received a notice of late payment? How many in the country?
  2. Of those taxpayers, how many has the IRS determined received those notices in error?
  3. How is the IRS communicating to the taxpayers who received a notice in error?
  4. How is the IRS communicating to the taxpayers who received a proper notice of late payment, but is not aware that they committed an error?
  5. Will the IRS be waiving any fines, fees or interest as a result of the agency’s confusion?
  6. How many IRS employees were processing Illinois tax payments during the previous two years’ tax seasons? How many IRS employees are processing Illinois tax payments during the current tax season? 
  7. Have all IRS employees who accepted the deferred resignation offer now left the agency? Has this contributed in any way to the delayed processing of tax payments?
  8. Can you confirm that of the 8,500 IT employees that the IRS had at the start of the 2025 fiscal year, more than 2,000 IT employees have separated from the IRS?
  9. What is the IRS’ plan to ensure that these mistakes do not happen in the future?

In addition to Duckworth, this letter is signed by U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Representatives Jonathan Jackson (D-IL-01), Robin Kelly (D-IL-02), Delia Ramirez (D-IL-03), Jesús “Chuy” García (D-IL-04), Mike Quigley (D-IL-05), Sean Casten (D-IL-06), Danny Davis (D-IL-07), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL-08), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-09), Brad Schneider (D-IL-10), Bill Foster (D-IL-11), Nikki Budzinski (D-IL-13), Lauren Underwood (D-IL-14) and Eric Sorensen (D-IL-17).

Full letter text is available below and on the Senator’s website.

Dear Mr. Long:

We write on behalf of our constituents with extreme concern about the tax payment processing delays that are causing confusion and panic throughout Illinois.

Over the last few weeks, we have heard from a number of Illinoisans that they are receiving late notices from your agency, despite previous confirmations of submission and payment. To make matters worse, the late notices also include penalties and fines, which further heightens the urgency for taxpayers to resolve the issue.

Not only is it unacceptable that the IRS has failed to process tax payments in a timely manner—the failure to prevent erroneous late notices from being sent is incredibly damaging to taxpayers’ trust in the IRS. This trust is increasingly important as an increasing number of criminals now attempt to impersonate the IRS to scam vulnerable taxpayers out of their hard-earned money. By sending out incorrect notices, your agency has endangered years of effort to establish confidence in IRS communications.

We believe that your failure to process tax returns and erroneous sending of late notices is a crisis that must be addressed quickly. However, thus far, the IRS’ communications on the topic have been less than inspiring. On the day of your confirmation, June 12, 2025, the IRS finally officially acknowledged that “there is a delay in processing some electronic payments, and that some taxpayers are receiving IRS notices indicating a balance due even though payments were made timely.”

While we are glad the IRS has finally acknowledged an issue, the agency’s recent statements to local news media are unclear and confusing. In the IRS’ statement, the agency advised our constituents that, “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.”2 However, this does not make clear how our constituents could understand whether the late notice that they received was issued in error or not.

We also want to understand what the root causes of this failure are and how it is possible that the IRS has mismanaged its most basic duty. We know that earlier this year, the IRS fired more than 7,000 probationary employees and let over 20,000 employees leave through multiple deferred resignation programs. We also know that Acting Chief Information Officer Kaschit Pandya told staff in an email earlier this month that the agency needs to “reset and reassess” in part because more than 2,000 IT employees have separated from the IRS since January.3 Undoubtedly, these drastic changes contributed to an environment where the remaining staff was forced to pick up the slack of tens of thousands of employees, without any real plan. The indefinite hiring freeze also ensures that the IRS is unable to hire the staff necessary to fulfill the agency’s basic mission.  We hope that the failures of this tax season cause you to reconsider the detrimental actions currently being taken in the form of additional reductions in force and forced attrition. We also look forward to a comprehensive plan to address this issue moving forward.

To assist as we attempt to help our constituents, please provide responses to the following questions no later than July 3, 2025.

1. How many Illinois taxpayers received a notice of late payment? How many in the entire country?

2. Of those taxpayers, how many has the IRS determined received those notices in error?

3. How is the IRS communicating to the taxpayers who received a notice in error?

4. How is the IRS communicating to the taxpayers who received a proper notice of late payment, but is not aware that they committed an error?

5. Will the IRS be waiving any fines, fees or interest as a result of the agency’s confusion?

6. How many IRS employees were processing Illinois tax payments during the previous two years’ tax seasons? How many IRS employees are processing Illinois tax payments during the current tax season?

7. Have all IRS employees who accepted the deferred resignation offer now left the agency? Has this contributed in any way to the delayed processing of tax payments?

8. Can you confirm that of the 8,500 IT employees that the IRS had at the start of the 2025 fiscal year, more than 2,000 IT employees have separated from the IRS?

9. What is the IRS’ plan to ensure that these mistakes do not happen in the future?

Thank you in advance for your consideration of this request. If you have any questions about this congressional inquiry, please contact our staff.

Sincerely,

-30-