» How the shutdown made IRS even more frustrating,

WASHINGTON — The longest government shutdown in U.S. history resulted in a “shocking” number of taxpayers’ calls to the IRS going unreturned or being left to languish on hold for unusually long periods, according to a government audit released Tuesday.

Why it matters

The audit, by the office of the National Taxpayer Advocate, found that over 5 million pieces of mail went unanswered and 87,000 amended tax returns were not processed during the shutdown, when thousands of IRS workers were furloughed or working without pay.

The issues were e spec ially acute since they followed significant changes to the tax code — ushered in by President Donald Trump’s $1.5 trillion tax overhaul — that left many people with questions about filing their returns.

The problems continued even after the shutdown, the audit found. In the week that ended Feb. 2, shortly after agency employees returned to their jobs, less than half of the calls to the IRS’s accounts-management lines were answered, compared with nearly 90 percent during the same week last year. The typical hold time for such callers increased to 17 minutes from 4 minutes in 2018.

There were similar frustrations for those who called the agency’s balance-due line in hopes of making payment arrangements for taxes they owed. Fewer than 7 percent of such calls were answered and the typical wait for those that were stretched to more than 80 minutes.

IRS officials said they were reviewing the taxpayer advocate’s findings.

What it means

Data released by the agency last week showedthat Americans filed 12 percent fewer returns through Feb. 2, compared with the same point in 2018, and the IRS has processed 26 percent fewer returns.

The audit found that a policy change made by the Trump administration intended to simplify the tax-filing process — the creation of a “postcard size” 1040 form — has made filing more difficult because the new form does not include much of the information many taxpayers need to complete their returns.

The problems that became apparent during the 35-day shutdown,which ended Jan. 25, underscored some of the agency’s deeper flaws, including a reliance on 1960sera technology, the audit found.

Inadequate financing is a primary cause of the agency’s failings, the audit found.

What’s next

The agency has givenno indication that it might consider pushing back April’s tax filing deadline to account for shutdown-related snags.

DREAMSTIME An audit found more than 5 millionpieces of mail went unanswered when IRS workers were furloughed orworking without pay.