WASHINGTON — Got a question for the IRS about your taxes? The agency is pushing you to fire up your computer rather than give them a call.
The IRS may soon dramatically scale back telephone and face-to-face service as part of a plan that would focus more on online accounts for the 150 million individual taxpayers and 11 million businesses seeking help and information, the agency’s official watchdog warned.
In an annual report to Congress, National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson said the IRS should be more open about its plans and that service cutbacks may mean an increasing number of people may have to turn to tax preparers and software such as TurboTax to file their returns.
That would increase tax compliance costs for millions of filers.
Olson said that the evolving IRS plan has “many positive components,” such as new online taxpayer accounts that would speed information to taxpayers and handle many of their interactions with the agency. That is likely to reduce demand for overburdened telephone and face-to-face interactions with the agency.
Still, Olson said, many people seeking help from the IRS don’t have “cookie cutter” problems that can be handled online. For instance, last year more than 9 million filers experienced refund delays or received IRS notices after submitting their returns proposing to adjust tax payments.
Olson’s warnings stem from limited public pronouncements about the agency’s planning and internal IRS discussions. She said the IRS should make its plans public.
“We believe it is critical that the IRS share its plans in detail ... and then engage in a dialogue about the extent to which it intends to curtail or eliminate various categories of telephone service and face-to-face service, whether it will provide sufficient support for taxpayers,” the report said. “And whether it has an adequate ‘Plan B’ if taxpayer demand for telephone and face-to-face service remains higher than the IRS anticipates.”
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