10/07/2026
Filing on Paper? It May Take Longer
Paper tax returns took considerably longer for the IRS to process during the 2026 filing season.
A federal review found individual paper returns took about a month on average to process, approximately twice as long as the year before.
Whenever possible, electronic filing and direct deposit can help avoid some of these delays.
Read more:
https://www.accountingtoday.com/news/irs-took-twice-as-long-to-process-tax-returns-this-year
The IRS needed a month to process paper tax returns this filing season, double the amount last year, due to staffing shortages and unavailable systems.