The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tips to help you deal with the IRS this tax season
The Internal Revenue Service is on a charm offensive, as long as you don’t earn too much money.
What’s happening?
After a multiyear pandemic pause, the agency is rebooting its collection efforts, hammering home its intent to chase down high earners who owe the most. On Feb. 29, the IRS said it was sending letters to more than 25,000 people with more than $1 million in income who had not filed tax returns since 2017.
Everyone else, the agency insists, is going to benefit from the $60 billion, scaled back from an initial $80 billion, that the agency has won via the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
What is the IRS doing differently this year?
One big focus is on a feature called customer callback, which gives users the option to be called back later rather than waiting on hold. “We have saved over 600,000 hours just this year in people having to wait,” said Ken Corbin, the agency’s first chief taxpayer experience officer.
The agency’s goal was to have that feature available for 95% of taxpayers calling for assistance by July, and the IRS met that goal with 97% having the callback option, Corbin said.
That’s also helped reduce wait times, he said.
“I’m really happy to say that on our main phone line this year, when you get in line, we are answering the phone in under five minutes, on average. In fact, we’re right at two minutes right now,” Corbin said, though it was only February, early in the filing season.
Can the callback system predict roughly when someone will be calling back later that day?
No, but that’s a goal Corbin has for the future.
When’s the best time to call?
Tuesday to Thursday, Corbin said.
“Mondays are really heavy phone days,” he said. “People over the weekend either file their taxes or can’t file their taxes, or some people might have gotten a little love note from the IRS and don’t want to open it until the weekend, when they can reflect on it a little bit.”
What has the agency done with its expanded funding?
“We’ve hired about 5,000 customer service representatives,” Corbin said. “We’ve also hired about 800 in-person assisters. We have had what we call taxpayer experience days, where we’re open Saturdays at our brickand-mortar walk-in centers. We do one a month during filing season.
“We also are able to have our employees work longer hours in the centers, which means we’re opening earlier in the day and staying open later in the evening. That allows people who have 9-to-5 jobs to come in.”
He hopes people notice that it’s easier to talk to the IRS now.
“During the pandemic, it was tough for us,” he said. “The economic impact payments got us behind in our normal work.”
Can you send messages securely about a problem, with the same person replying so you’re not having to start over each time?
Not yet. “We’re already testing and learning with secure messaging with some of our business customers,” Corbin said. “It may not be the same person who answers you, but I think we are really close to creating those journeys.”
What do people get wrong tactically when trying to solve problems with the IRS?
“They get a letter or something from the IRS, and they won’t open it,” Corbin said. “They won’t read it ... that is the No. 1 thing. I want them to open the letter. Let’s figure out how to resolve the issue.”