Objective 6 2025

Published: August 27, 2024 | Last Updated: February 3, 2026

Reduce Processing Times for Identity Theft Victim Assistance Cases

Background

Each year, hundreds of thousands of taxpayers are victims of tax-related identity theft. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2022, the IRS had 228,383 Identity Theft Victim Assistance (IDTVA) case receipts, and in FY 2023, they increased to 294,138. This increase resulted in part from the issuance of pandemic-era credits such as Economic Impact Payments, the Additional Child Tax Credit, and the Advance Child Tax Credit, which led to the IRS having a backlog of IDTVA cases. It has been four years from the onset of the pandemic, and the IRS’s delays in helping victims are unconscionable. The IRS has prioritized other service areas, such as processing a backlog of paper-filed returns and achieving an 85 percent Level of Service on its main toll-free lines, to demonstrate its success, while identity theft victims continue to experience extreme processing timeframes to get their refunds.

The IRS’s failure to reduce these timeframes further harms victims who are often dealing with other issues related to the identity theft. These taxpayers won’t receive their federal tax refunds until the IRS resolves their IDTVA cases. These delays are particularly challenging for low-income taxpayers who may rely on these refunds to pay their day-to-day living expenses or expenses accrued throughout the year, such as medical bills. IRS delays in issuing refunds may force some taxpayers to reduce their food expenses, leading to food insecurity. In addition, these identity theft victims may struggle to secure certain kinds of loans, such as mortgages.

Highlights

Status

Activities

Activity 1: Work with the IRS to identify ways to improve efficiency in IDTVA case processing to achieve shorter processing times.

Activity 2: Identify systemic issues arising from these lengthy IDTVA case processing times and work with the IRS to systemically solve these problems.

Activity 3: Advocate for the IRS to provide more specific processing timeframes for IDTVA cases on the IRS Operational page.

Activity Updates

Activity 1: TAS continued to monitor the Identity Theft Victim Assistance (IDTVA) paper processing. TAS monitored IRS’s plans to address overaged inventory in IDTVA, which is currently at 84%. TAS recognizes resources were impacted by the Treasury’s Deferred Resignation Program. The IRS lost 259 trained employees who had the certain skillset needed to work IDTVA cases. The IRS is attempting to address staffing and training challenges. This activity is being closed and all FY2026 actions will be tracked under the new FY2026 Systemic Advocacy Objective which aligns to these efforts.

Activity 2: TAS Systemic Advocacy (SA) will monitor the five administrative recommendations made for improvements for the management of the Identity Theft Victim Assistance (IDTVA) inventory, which includes: prioritizing all IDTVA employees working identity theft cases, developing and implementing an initial screening process for IDTVA cases, exploring technologies such as automation and artificial intelligence, and developing tools to improve research capabilities and efficiency for IDTVA employees. The SA Revenue Protection (RP) Team will continue to monitor IDTVA Inventory and Joint Operations Center reports for reduction of IDTVA inventory and cycle times. The RP team also monitored TAS’s Phoenix system for Identity Theft submissions. TAS has identified potential systemic issues related to the processing of IDT and will continue this process. This activity is being closed and all FY2026 actions will be tracked under the new FY2026 Systemic Advocacy Objective which aligns to these efforts.

Activity 3: TAS monitored the five administrative recommendations made for improvements for the management of the IDTVA inventory, which includes prioritizing all IDTVA employees working identity theft cases; developing and implementing an initial screening process for IDTVA cases; exploring technologies such as automation and artificial intelligence; and developing tools to improve research capabilities and efficiency for IDTVA employees. TAS will continue to monitor IDTVA Inventory and Joint Operations Center reports for reduction of IDTVA inventory and cycle times.

1st Quarter Actions Completed

TAS Systemic Advocacy (SA) is monitoring the five administrative recommendations made for improvements with the management of the Identity Theft Victim Assistance (IDTVA) inventory which includes:

Prioritizing all IDTVA employees working identity theft cases;
Developing and implementing an initial screening process for IDTVA cases;
Exploring technologies such as automation and artificial intelligence; and
Developing tools to improve research capabilities and efficiency for IDTVA employees.

The SA Revenue Protection Team will continue to monitor IDTVA Inventory and Joint Operations Center (JOC) reports for reduction of IDTVA inventory and cycle times.

2nd Quarter Actions Completed

In “Most Serious Problem: Identity Theft” from the 2024 Annual Report to Congress, TAS made five administrative recommendations to the IRS. IRS’s response to the recommendations is due to TAS on April 22, 2025. TAS will review IRS’s response and look for ways to continue to collaborate on these issues. TAS’s Revenue Protection Team will also continue to monitor IDTVA Inventory and Joint Operations Center (JOC) reports for reduction of IDTVA inventory and cycle times.

3rd Quarter Actions Completed

The Identity Theft Victim Assistance (IDTVA) paper processing stands at an average of 602 days for FY 2025 (through April 2025). TAS monitored the five administrative recommendations made for improvements for the management of the IDTVA inventory, which includes prioritizing all IDTVA employees working identity theft cases; developing and implementing an initial screening process for IDTVA cases; exploring technologies such as automation and artificial intelligence; and developing tools to improve research capabilities and efficiency for IDTVA employees. TAS will continue to monitor IDTVA Inventory and Joint Operations Center reports for reduction of IDTVA inventory and cycle times.

TAS has monitored the Phoenix system for identity theft issues to assist with identifying potential systemic issues related to the processing of identity theft and will continue this process.

Next Steps

TAS continued to monitor the Identity Theft Victim Assistance (IDTVA) paper processing. TAS monitored IRS’s plans to address overaged inventory in IDTVA, which is currently at 84%. TAS recognizes resources were impacted by the Treasury’s Deferred Resignation Program. The IRS lost 259 trained employees who had the certain skillset needed to work IDTVA cases. The IRS is attempting to address staffing and training challenges.

TAS Systemic Advocacy (SA) will monitor the five administrative recommendations made for improvements for the management of the Identity Theft Victim Assistance (IDTVA) inventory, which includes: prioritizing all IDTVA employees working identity theft cases, developing and implementing an initial screening process for IDTVA cases, exploring technologies such as automation and artificial intelligence, and developing tools to improve research capabilities and efficiency for IDTVA employees. The SA Revenue Protection (RP) Team will continue to monitor IDTVA Inventory and Joint Operations Center reports for reduction of IDTVA inventory and cycle times. The RP team also monitored TAS’s Phoenix system for Identity Theft submissions. TAS has identified potential systemic issues related to the processing of IDT and will continue this process.

TAS Systemic Advocacy collaborated with IRS to get the processing status webpage updated to reflect the current backlog date, which at the time was November 2023. TAS also worked with IRS to update its report with the accurate average number of days to process cases, calculated from the IRS received date to the case closed date. The updated information can be found at: https://www.irs.gov/help/processing-status-for-tax-forms.

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