The Wall Street Journal reports that it is becoming more and more likely that millions of taxpayers will see processing of their 2007 returns delayed due to Congress' inability to pass a fix for the Alternative Minimum Tax:

Some lawmakers predict Congress probably won't take action until next month. If so, that could spell major trouble, Treasury and IRS officials warn. That's because it takes time for the IRS to reprogram its computerized processing systems to reflect last-minute changes made in Congress, says Terry Lemons, an IRS spokesman. How long? "Up to 10 weeks after the bill is signed into law," he says. "The AMT is not simple, and these are not simple changes to our systems."

"As we look at the upcoming 2007 filing season, the potential exists for us to see a problem of greater magnitude than anything we have faced in the past," said Linda Stiff, the IRS's acting commissioner. In a recent speech, she warned that the processing of as many as 50 million returns "would be delayed..."

Congressional delays could affect people who file on paper as well as the growing numbers of people who file electronically. A record 57% of all federal income-tax returns filed earlier this year for the 2006 tax year were zapped electronically to the IRS. That was up from 36% in 2002...

What's more, "millions of other taxpayers not involved in AMT returns may also have their refunds delayed because of the backlog in processing other returns," says Ms. Stiff, the acting IRS commissioner.

"We are worried," says Tom Ochsenschlager, vice president, taxation at the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Congress "is really putting the IRS in a box on this issue. That's going to make a lot of taxpayers upset."

Sure, Congress has been unable to pass a simple tax fix, but at least they've found time to hold 40 votes on Iraq.

Your tax dollars at work.