Should I mail Amended Returns to the IRS at this time?

[nancyrosetaxserv]

I have a few Amended Returns to mail in for 2017, 2018 and 2019.  I am hesitant to mail them if they are just going to be sitting at the bottom of a pile of 10 Million pieces of mail for the next six months or longer.  Has anyone heard any updates as to whether to mail tax returns yet?  And even if they are going to start E-filing in August, it will only be for 2019 Tax Returns, correct?  Any recommendations?

[dkh]

this article states IRS has 8300 employees working on opening mail   https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2020/07/irs-commissioner-expects-full-staffing-at-tax-proce...

What if you wait several months only to realize they could've been processed in less than a month? 

Send them with high hopes they'll land on the top of the pile.

[Just-Lisa-Now-]

Yes, the Efile ability in August will be for 2019 only.
I've mailed in a few 1040Xs since the shutdown...therye going to be sitting in a pile now or in 4 months from now, so they can sit there just as easy as sit on my desk.

[BobKamman]

It's like calling Intuit customer service.  Do you want to wait on hold for four hours now, or do you want to wait on hold for four hours in October?

IRS work assignments are highly specialized.  The people who review amended returns are not the people who do data entry for paper 1040's.  For all we know, they are sitting around waiting for work because too many people aren't sure if they are back in the office.  

[nancyrosetaxserv]

Thanks everyone!  Makes sense - so I will be mailing these in asap.

Thanks again for all your replies. 

[sjrcpa]

Also, just because IRS says they will start accepting 2019 amended tax returns in August does not mean any tax software will be updated for this in August.

[BobKamman]

The software could be written by a teen-age coding student.  I expect this to be more like sending a fax from a computer, not a phone.  It will create a document that will be reviewed on a screen, the way paper documents are handled now.  (I'm not sure the paper documents even get to a tax examiner; they might be scanned first.)  It will be interesting to see what pdf attachments are required or accepted.  

Will there be the "instant gratification" that comes from filing original returns, with no initial review by human eyes?  Don't count on it.