b' Marketer InformationRules & RegulationsIRS TO CLEAR BACKLOG of Unpaid 8849 Refund Claims filed for FY 2020 Quarters One and TwoWThe IRS year-longOnce work restrictions eased, processing delays Washington, D.C. processing backlog of federal motor fuel excisefor earlier filed claims continued as incoming tax (FET) tax refunds will soon be cleared up,third and fourth quarter claims were prioritized for according to the US Treasury Department. This isprocessing. The backlogged paper claims were not good news for marketers who have been waitingprioritized because interest owed on them for late for 8849 refund claims made during the first andprocessing had to be calculated manually. The law Mark S. Morgan, Esqsecond quarter of 2020 on the sale of taxable fuelrequires the IRS to pay interest on electronic refund Energy Marketers to tax exempt state and local governments. Theclaims not processed after twenty days and on paper of America (EMA) claim processing delay has forced marketers to floatclaims not processed after forty-five days. Manu-Regulatory Counsel hundreds of thousand of dollars in withheld FETally calculating interest on thousands of backlogged taxes for nearly a year. In some cases, marketers arepaper claims is a complicated and labor-intensive owed more than a million dollars in unpaid claims.task that would divert already limited resources During this time, the IRS ignored inquires on thefrom processing new, incoming claims. Processing status of individual claims as well as the reason forincoming claims first would ensure those claims the backlog and plans to process the delayed claims.were paid in a timely manner and not subject to As a result, tens of thousands of 8849 refund claimsinterest payments as well. This is why third and continue to lan- fourth quarter 8849 refund claims were processed guish at the IRS,on time while untouched sinceearlier claims they were receivedwere left unpro-for processingcessed. The during the firstirony of the half of 2020.IRS having to After concertedpay interest on pressure by EMA, and intervention by Congress,late payments, the IRS finally came clean on why marketers haveand not the other way around, would be somewhat had to wait so long for their 8849 refunds and whatamusing if not for the financial stress marketers they plan to do about it. According to the IRS,have endured due to the delay.the COVID-19 outbreak in March 2020 was theHowever, the IRS now has a plan in place to begin main cause for the breakdown in claim processing.the processing of delayed paper claims and a time Absences due to illness and subsequent work fromframe within which the refund backlog will be home orders for federal employees were the initialcleared. EMA worked closely with Congress to cause for the backlog. While IRS employees wereensure that the plan was effective and that the IRS able to continue processing electronically filed 8849implemented it in a timely manner. The IRS plans claims from remote locations, claims filed on paperto manually process the backlogged claims in an forms were left for manual processing at a later dateexpedited manner with a goal of sending refund due to privacy laws preventing their removal fromchecks to all claimants by the middle of March, at IRS processing centers. continued on page 54#7 Andrew Jackson continued from page 11 There are no necessary evils in govern-US President #8 Martin Van Burenundertake to add to these natural and just advantagesment . Its evils exist only in its abuses . If itThere is a power in public opinion in this country, and I artificial distinctions, to grant titles, gratuities, and exclusive privileges, to make the rich richer and thewould confine itself to equal protection,(61) thank God for it; for it is the most honest and best of all potent more powerful, the humble members of society- and, as Heaven does its rains, shower itsPT: 1829-1837 powers, which will not tolerate an incompetent or un-the farmers, mechanics, and laborers-who havefavors alike on the high and the low, theworthy man to hold in his weak or wicked hands,(55)neither the time nor the means of securing like favorsrich and the poor, it would be an unqualified blessing .the lives and fortunes of his fellow-citizens . PT: 1837-1841to themselves, have a right to complain of the injusticeIn the act before me there seems to be a wide and un- This power operates alike upon the government and the incumbent . necessary departure from these just principles . The former dare not disregard it, and the latter can have no adequate of their Government . Source: President Jacksons veto message regarding the Bank of 16the United States; July 10, 1832.www.wpma.com /Spring 2021'