Thousands of IRS employees offer to go back to work after agency offers incentive pay amid backlog

Thousands of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees have reportedly volunteered to go back to work as the agency struggles amid the pandemic to overcome a backlog of tax filings and coronavirus stimulus payments.

CNN reported Monday that a number of employees ranging in the thousands would return to work at 10 different locations across the country as the IRS works to get through tax season as well as the relief payments passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump.

Those working amid the backlog will reportedly receive a 10 percent pay raise, while some workers in areas deemed to be higher risks for coronavirus transmission, such as the mailroom, would receive up to 25 percent raises.

The news was confirmed to CNN by the Professional Managers Association, a national organization representing non-union IRS workers and others in the federal government.

Workers will be required to wear face masks while on the job, the association’s president told CNN.

The agency took heat from some lawmakers last week for a memo requiring IRS workers to fund their own masks. The agency has since moved to provide one mask per employee, officials told CNN in a statement.

“The IRS will continue to do everything possible to protect employees while also providing important services and assistance to the nation’s taxpayers,” the agency said.

Tax season has already been extended through July 15 as millions of Americans are out of work and many federal employees are working from home, compounding the agency’s ability to assist taxpayers with questions or answer physical mail.