TIGTA: IRS delayed action on thousands of high-income non-filer cases

The IRS advanced nearly 39,000 high-priority cases in its high-income non-filer initiative after the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration alerted the agency during an audit that the cases remained stalled in first-notice status.

The IRS agreed with TIGTA’s six recommendations and said it advanced the affected cases in March 2026. TIGTA said that the nearly 39,000 stalled cases represented approximately $15.7 billion in potential tax assessments.

The watchdog estimated that earlier action on the cases could have resulted in returns or assessments in 10,482 cases, involving about $321.3 million in additional tax. That additional tax amount, according to a TIGTA email response, can still be collected by the IRS. Read more.