kate_sept2004 | E+ | Getty Images
Tax season kicked off for particular person filers Monday with a much bigger IRS customer support workforce and enhanced know-how because the company begins to deploy its practically $80 billion in funding.
Over the previous a number of months, the IRS has employed 5,000 new customer support workers, aiming to “significantly increase” the variety of answered calls, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo instructed reporters Friday.
IRS service was flagged as one of many company’s “most serious problems” within the National Taxpayer Advocate’s 2022 annual report, with solely 13% of callers reaching reside help in the course of the 2022 submitting season.
More from Personal Finance:
Roth conversion taxes could also be trickier than you anticipate
IRS to start out 2023 season stronger, taxpayer advocate says
How greater Social Security cost-of-living changes could have an effect on your taxes
The IRS will bolster in-person assist at Taxpayer Assistance Centers throughout the nation, placing the company on observe to “triple the number of Americans served,” Adeyemo mentioned.
The company additionally plans to enhance customer support by way of know-how, together with the power for filers to reply to sure IRS notices on-line and for the IRS to scan paper returns.
“These improvements showcase how we are modernizing both technology and customer service to bring the IRS into the 21st century and how the IRS plans to deploy [Inflation Reduction Act] resources in the years to come,” Adeyemo mentioned.
Enacted in August, the Inflation Reduction Act allotted $79.6 billion to the IRS over the subsequent 10 years, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen outlined priorities quickly after — resembling clearing the tax return backlog, enhancing customer support, overhauling know-how and hiring employees.
The IRS goals to ship a plan for the practically $80 billion in funding to Yellen in February, based on a Treasury official.
Meanwhile, House Republicans in January voted to slash the newly enacted IRS funding after months of scrutiny of the company’s plans. However, the measure would not have the assist to go within the Democratic-controlled Senate.
‘Light on the finish of the tunnel’ for the IRS
The 2023 tax submitting season kicks off after a difficult interval for the IRS. Despite guarantees to clear the backlog, as of Dec. 23 there have been nonetheless 1.91 million unprocessed particular person returns acquired in 2022, based on the company.
However, the IRS could also be primed for a greater 2023 submitting season after making “considerable progress” in lowering the pileup, National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins mentioned in her annual report.
“We have begun to see the light at the end of the tunnel,” she wrote. “I am just not sure how much further we have to travel before we see sunlight.”