In a remarkable feat, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) commenced the tax filing deadline day by proclaiming surpassing its targets for enhancing taxpayer support and slashing phone hold times to an impressive three minutes, while highlighting the critical necessity for Congress to maintain sufficient funding for the tax agency.
THE TAKE: Concluding its second tax return filing season with augmented funding from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, the IRS initially received $80 billion over a decade to modernize its operations, enhance taxpayer services, and bolster enforcement. However, Republican adjustments reduced this to $60 billion, sparking ongoing debates over the IRS’ annual operating budget.
The IRS directed its initial resources toward enhancing taxpayer services, digitizing filing capabilities, and initiating a pilot free-filing system.
BY THE NUMBERS: The IRS disclosed reducing its average call wait time on its primary taxpayer helpline to three minutes, down from four minutes last year and a staggering 28 minutes in 2022, prior to the supplementary funding. Despite fielding nearly one million more calls than in 2023, the IRS aided 88% of callers, surpassing its 85% target. Additionally, a new call-back feature, akin to those offered by airlines and banks, saved 1.4 million hours of hold time, according to the IRS.
The IRS recruited over 5,000 personnel to aid taxpayers via phone and in-person service centers and to handle the digitization of paper filings. IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel emphasized this as the “right-size workforce” for taxpayer services, yet stressed the imperative of continuous hiring to offset attrition.
Despite the additional funding, Werfel noted the IRS lacks adequate resources to sustain hiring for taxpayer services and auditing complex business partnerships while modernizing its systems, signaling the need for annual budgetary increases.
KEY QUOTE: “These achievements demonstrate that the IRS’ stellar performance last filing season was not incidental,” remarked U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. “It underscores that with the requisite resources, the IRS can deliver the service taxpayers deserve,” she added, pledging to collaborate with Congress to ensure the IRS maintains its momentum.
