The IRS began accepting tax returns Monday as it opened the tax-filing season with a promise that taxpayers should see a much smoother experience, powered by a windfall of investments by President Biden and Congress.
IRS offices announced extended hours for in-person help, and the agency said it’s worked to clear up backlogs that plagued the agency during the pandemic, stranding millions of returns in limbo.
The IRS will also test its direct file program, a 12-state pilot program for the government’s own tax preparation tool. It will allow some taxpayers to file electronically, for free, without having to pay a preparation service to file.
And the IRS promised improvements to “Where’s my Refund,” the system for taxpayers who overpaid during the year and are getting money back from Uncle Sam. The agency said the system will deliver more plain-language explanations, a better experience for smartphone users, and alerts if the IRS is still awaiting documents from the taxpayer.
Perhaps most importantly, the IRS says it will make sure calls get answered and those who get through aren’t waiting on hold for a half-hour. As recently as two years ago, just 13% of taxpayer assistance calls were actually answered by an IRS employee.
“For months, IRS employees have been working hard to be ready to help taxpayers and make tax season as easy and smooth as possible,” IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said. “We’ve taken important steps to add more improvements to help taxpayers, ranging from expanded in-person hours, better online options and improved phone service.”
There haven’t been any major new changes to tax law, but taxpayers will see some adjustments to what they owe because inflation has driven tax brackets higher. That’s at least some good news for workers whose incomes haven’t kept up.
The IRS is engaged in a major push to improve its image after years of poor service and scandals, including leaked taxpayer information.
Congress pumped tens of billions of dollars into the IRS in Democrats’ 2022 budget-climate deal, directing the agency to use the money to improve customer service and to sweat out more money from tax cheats.
Mr. Werfel says the agency has used the money to catch up from a pandemic-related crush of work that left the IRS gasping for air.
In particular, he rushed to deploy employees to answer phone calls, most of which were going unanswered during the pandemic. The good news is that it worked, and the call service improved dramatically.
The downside is that because of the IRS’ antiquated systems, those customer service representatives can’t do anything else while assigned to phone calls, so if call volume is low at a certain point the representatives are idle.
The Taxpayer Advocate Service says that meant representatives were idle 34% of the time they were assigned to telephone duty.
On Capitol Hill, Republicans are intent on trying to claw back some of the IRS’ new money, arguing a supercharged agency awash in new tax examiners means a tougher time for taxpayers.
Democrats say their goal is to unleash the new employees on wealthy taxpayers making $400,000 or more, which is where they say there’s the most money to be made by reining in cheats.
Most tax returns covering 2023 are due to be filed by April 15.
The IRS said it’ll keep its extended hours open through the day after.
The IRS expects more than 146 million returns to be filed by individuals and other entities.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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