Enrolled Agent Peter Kici of Tax Debt Relief Group breaks down what 291% jump in taxpayer delinquency investigations means for people with unfiled tax returns
ORLANDO, FL, UNITED STATES, June 18, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — The number of new taxpayer delinquency investigations the IRS opened jumped from 639,143 in fiscal year 2024 to 2,501,667 in fiscal year 2025 — an increase of roughly 291%, or nearly four times as many in a single year. The figures come from the IRS’s newly released 2025 Data Book (Publication 55-B, Table 4-1), issued June 5, 2026.
A taxpayer delinquency investigation, or TDI, is the IRS’s term for a non-filer case. According to the Data Book, a delinquency investigation “is opened when a taxpayer does not respond to an IRS notice of a delinquent return.” In plain English: the IRS believes a return was required, it sent a notice, and it didn’t hear back. The figures cover all return types, for both individuals and businesses.
That is different from a taxpayer delinquent account, or TDA, which involves a return that has already been filed or a tax that has already been assessed, with a balance still owed. A TDI is about the missing return itself.
The Data Book shows this is not a one-year blip. The IRS closed 1,317,729 delinquency investigations in TY2025, more than double the 601,025 it closed the year before — but new cases came in far faster than they were resolved. The agency ended FY2025 with 3,234,815 open investigations in inventory, up from 2,050,877 a year earlier — a 58% jump in the backlog. Over the same period, the IRS assessed $29.6 billion in additional tax on returns that were not filed on time, up from $17.8 billion in TY2024.
“For most people, a non-filer problem doesn’t start out looking like one,” said Peter Kici, an IRS Enrolled Agent and founder of Orlando-based Tax Debt Relief Group. “Someone comes in thinking they just owe money. We pull their transcripts and find three, five, sometimes six years of unfiled returns underneath it. That’s the part that has to be fixed first.”
Kici notes that filing compliance is usually the gate to everything else. “The IRS generally won’t seriously consider an installment agreement, currently-not-collectible status, or an offer in compromise until the missing returns are filed. Until you’re back in filing compliance, most of your options stay off the table.”
He points to the data as a sign of where IRS enforcement is heading. “A jump this size in one year tells you the IRS is leaning on automation and data matching to find non-filers at scale. People who have been quietly hoping it would never catch up to them have a lot less runway than they did a year ago.”
His advice for anyone sitting on unfiled returns is to deal with it before the IRS does. “If you file before they file for you, you have a lot more say in how it goes. When the IRS prepares a substitute return for you, it almost never includes the deductions and credits you’d actually be entitled to. Getting ahead of it is usually cheaper and far less stressful than waiting for the next notice.”
Tax Debt Relief Group works with individuals and small businesses on unfiled returns, IRS collections, and tax debt resolution. Kici — a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who faced six years of his own unfiled returns before becoming an Enrolled Agent — offers free, confidential consultations.
About Tax Debt Relief Group
Tax Debt Relief Group, a Kici Enterprises LLC company based in Chuluota, Florida, helps individuals and small businesses resolve back taxes, unfiled returns, and IRS collection problems. Founded by Peter P. Kici, EA, a federally licensed Enrolled Agent and USMC veteran, the firm represents taxpayers before the IRS so they don’t have to face the agency alone. Services include back-tax filing and non-filer resolution, IRS representation in audits and collections, installment agreements, penalty abatement, and offers in compromise. Learn more at taxdebtreliefgroup.com.
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Peter P. Kici, EA
Tax Debt Relief Group
Phone: 866-241-4154
Email: Pete@taxdebtreliefgroup.com
Web: https://taxdebtreliefgroup.com/
Peter Kici EA
Tax Debt Relief Group
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