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The IRS sign, outside the IRS building in Washington.

Regulation and Compliance > Federal Regulation > IRS

IRS Cuts Wait Times, Makes New Hires

By Melanie Waddell

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What You Need to Know

  • Inflation Reduction Act funds helped the agency reach several milestones.
  • In the 2023 tax filing season, the agency answered 3 million more calls.
  • The IRS also made 700 new hires and opened taxpayer assistance centers.

The Internal Revenue Service said Wednesday that it has reached several milestones — including new hires and shorter wait times — thanks to funds provided by the Inflation Reduction Act, which was signed into law by President Joe Biden one year ago.

As part of its Paperless Processing Initiative, the agency said it has scanned 225 times more forms than in 2022 and enabled taxpayers to reply to an additional 51 forms and letters online.

To cut down on periods of high call volume, the IRS’ customer callback option will now be available for up to 95% of callers seeking live assistance, the agency said.

‘Dramatically’ Improved Service

Inflation Reduction Act resources also helped the IRS “dramatically” improve service in the 2023 filing season, with an 87% level of service on its main taxpayer help line, the agency reported.

Through the end of the 2023 filing season, the IRS said it:

  • Answered 3 million more calls.
  • Cut phone wait times to three minutes from 28 minutes.
  • Served 140,000 more taxpayers in person.
  • Digitized 80 times more returns than in 2022 through the adoption of new scanning technology.
  • Cleared the backlog of unprocessed 2022 individual tax returns with no errors.
  • Launched two new digital tools.
  • Enabled a new direct-deposit refund option for taxpayers with amended returns.

Paperless Processing

The IRS also used funds from the Inflation Reduction Act to launch its Paperless Processing initiative.

The IRS said on Aug. 2 that it tapped its $80 billion budget boost under the Inflation Reduction Act to accelerate paperless processing for the 2024 and 2025 tax filing seasons.

The “ambitious plan” will ensure that by filing season 2024, “taxpayers will be able to go paperless if they choose to do so,” the IRS said, and by filing season 2025, “the IRS will achieve paperless processing digitizing all paper-filed returns when received.”

In effect, the IRS said, “this means all paper will be converted into digital form as soon as it arrives at the IRS.”

E-Filing, New Hires

The IRS said it has now scanned about 849,000 forms this year, including about 481,400 Forms 940, 304,000 Forms 941, and 64,000 Forms 1040 — 225 times more forms than were scanned the previous year.

Further, the agency’s customer callback option will now cover up to 95% of callers seeking live assistance, and the IRS has hired nearly 700 employees to open or reopen 42 Taxpayer Assistance Centers across the country.

Reaching the Hard to Reach

The funding boost also helped the agency set up new Pop-Up Taxpayer Assistance Centers, giving taxpayers from “hard-to-reach areas” an opportunity to meet face-to-face with IRS customer service representatives.

One IRS field assistance center, the agency reported, helped an 81-year-old taxpayer who was the victim of identity theft.

The woman “lives on Social Security and her benefits were suspended due to income falsely reported under her Social Security number,” the agency said. “Her son drove her to the event, and IRS employees helped her report the identity theft issue and provided a letter for her to take to the Social Security Administration.”

Wealthy Tax Cheats

In July, the IRS announced that it had closed about 175 delinquent tax cases for millionaires, generating $38 million in recoveries as part of its bid to crack down on wealthy tax cheats.

“This is just the start,” the IRS said in a statement then. “We will continue to go after delinquent millionaires as we ramp up enforcement capabilities” through the Inflation Reduction Act, which increased the IRS budget by roughly $80 billion over 10 years.

Melanie Waddell

@Think_MelanieW

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