IRS To Hire 10K Workers To Handle 20M Unprocessed Claims

As the April 18th deadline for filing taxes draws nearer, the Internal Revenue Service has announced plans to hire 10,000 new employees to help plow through a monstrous backlog of unprocessed claims.

The IRS currently has more than 20 million claims that have not yet been processed, which is about 15 times the amount usually processed in a typical filing season, a rep says. However, the agency reports the size of its worker pool hasn’t changed since 1970.

To fill the open positions, the IRS is planning to host job fairs in several U.S. cities, including Austin, Kansas City and Ogden, a spokesman says. There’s no word yet on when events will be held.

What’s the longest you’ve had to wait for your tax return?