IRS Cites Surge in Tax Fraud, Budget Cuts For 2013 Processing Delays

By Joseph M. Donegan on August 1st, 2012

The 2013 tax year may be an arduous one for some business owners and individuals, as a higher incidence of tax fraud and Internal Revenue Service budget cuts may make it more difficult for the agency to process returns.

The Taxpayer Advocate Service – the IRS watchdog department – recently submitted its mid-year report to Congress. The federal tax agency cited tax fraud as one of the most significant issues that it faced in 2012, which may continue to hamper its processing efforts during the 2013 tax year. According to the report, the agency’s fraud detection system flagged nearly two million returns as being potentially fraudulent. This is an increase of 72 percent from last year.