2026 Filing Season: Preliminary Observations on IRS Performance

What GAO Found The Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) overall processing performance during the 2026 filing season was similar to 2025. IRS processed about 98 percent of the 177 million individual and business returns that it received during the 2026 filing season—the same percentage as last year. However, according to IRS, unavailable processing systems and reduced staffing delayed paper return processing. IRS said the systems were not available due in part to recent staff losses that delayed programming updates. IRS sent about half of paper returns to outside vendors to scan and submit to IRS electronically, but paper return processing took longer than prior years. For example, on average, it took IRS a month to process an individual paper return—about twice as long as last year. In addition to paper return processing delays, refund issuance was delayed for some taxpayers. In response to a 2025 executive order, IRS began phasing out paper check refunds. As a result, IRS delayed millions of refunds for taxpayers who did not provide direct deposit information. IRS officials told GAO that, as of early May 2026, they sent about 4.2 million notices to taxpayers requesting banking information to issue their refunds via direct deposit. Taxpayers who did not respond within 30 days would receive a refund by paper check after 6 weeks. Volumes and Timeliness to Issue Refunds via Paper Check and Direct Deposit, as of Early April, 2024–2026 Note: See figure 3 in GAO-26-109074 for information on comparing data across years. More taxpayers used self-service options during the 2026 filing season compared to prior years. For example, IRS received about 3 million fewer calls than last year (about 28 million), but more calls were answered by automation (41 percent) compared to last year (34 percent). Also, with fewer staff during the 2026 filing season and IRS’s efforts to balance workload on phones and correspondence, customer service representatives answered about 2 million fewer telephone calls compared to last year. Average call wait time increased to 8 minutes compared to 3 minutes in 2025. In addition, IRS served about 15 percent fewer taxpayers in person in 2026 than it did during the 2025 filing season (626,000 compared to 740,000). IRS officials attributed this decline to fewer open locations and less demand for in-person service. Why GAO Did This Study IRS entered the 2026 filing season with fewer staff and new tax provisions to implement. GAO was asked to provide preliminary observations and data on IRS’s 2026 filing season performance. This report describes IRS’s performance during the 2026 filing season compared to prior years related to (1) processing tax returns and issuing refunds; and (2) providing customer service. GAO examined IRS's goals and performance data on processing individual and business returns and providing customer service (via online, telephone, correspondence, and in person) during the 2026 filing season, which occurred from January 26, 2026, to April 15, 2026. GAO compared these data to performance data for the 2021 to 2025 filing seasons and determined reasons for any differences. GAO also interviewed IRS officials for contextual factors related to IRS's performance. For more information, contact Jessica Lucas-Judy at lucasjudyj@gao.gov.

2026 Filing Season: Preliminary Observations on IRS Performance

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