That’s the number to use if you want the IRS spin on it. Meanwhile, the national taxpayer advocate said in a report to Congress last week that although around 95% of taxpayers will likely avoid a delay in their 2020 tax return, 35.3 million individual and business returns are still unprocessed.

IRS is counting only those returns that have been around longer than 21 days. The NTA seems to be counting those that were received recently enough that they can’t be counted yet as delayed. She also seems to be adding in the delayed 941's.

Most of my clients have been voting for years to send people to Congress who have been voting to defund the IRS. It’s easier to point this out to them, now that refund delays have hit them in the pocketbook.  (Even if, the Kiplinger right-wing propaganda ignores that reality.)