IRS Commisioner John Koskinen announced that drastic budget cuts to the agency could see significant delays in tax return refunds this filing season.
Koskinen said, reduced tax services, enforcement efforts will also be hurt.
With numbers growing in individuals contacting the IRS for assistance, Kosikinen said this filing season the agency won't be able to get through to a person "Once tax returns are filed, there will be fewer agents to audit them" Koskinen added.
Koskinen reminded taxpayers that all returns will be processed but it may take additional time to receive a refund. "People have gotten very used to being able to file their return and quickly getting a refund", Koskinen said. "This year we may not have the resources, the people to provide refunds as quickly as we have in the past."
In recent years, the IRS says it was able to issue most tax refunds within 21 days, if the returns were filed electronically. Koskinen could not speculate on how long tax returns might be delayed in the upcoming filing season.
According to Koskinen, the IRS budget was slashed by $346 million for the budget year that ends in September 2015. "The $10.9 billion budget is $1.2 billion less than the agency received in 2010" Koskinen said.
PHOTO CREDIT: CBS LOCAL