Failed Tax Bill Vote Removes Lifeline for IRS on Covid Credit

The failure of the $78 billion tax bill to advance in the Senate last week paints an even bleaker and more uncertain future for the IRS as it sorts through a backlog of pandemic-era tax credit claims while businesses wait to get cash they are owed.

The IRS had suggested the bill’s success would help determine its next steps on paying valid employee retention credit claims while it works to clamp down on those that are illegitimate. But the unsuccessful procedural vote, following months of the bill being stalled in the Senate, is a key sign that the IRS can’t ...