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MSN Money
Prepare for
'Devastating' Tax Season, IRS Watchdog Says
Catherine Dunn
Nina Olson, the taxpayer advocate at the IRS, doesn't mince words about
how bad the upcoming tax season is likely to be. The terms "devastating
erosion of taxpayer service," "sad state of affairs" and "collective
denial" all apply, she wrote in her latest annual report to Congress.
The combination of increased work loads and budget cuts, along with the
damaging "tea party" screening scandal, is adding up to a "'perfect
storm' of trouble" at a federal agency that interacts with more than
three times as many Americans as any other agency.
"Taxpayers who need help are not getting it, and tax compliance is
likely to suffer over the longer term if these problems are not quickly
and decisively addressed," Olson said in the report, released Wednesday.
Approximately 200 million people deal with the IRS each year, and more
than 100 million phone calls pour in on an annual basis. A decade ago,
the vast majority of callers -- 87 percent -- could expect that a)
someone at the IRS would answer the phone and b) they'd be kept on hold
about 2.5 minutes, on average.
Not so in 2015. This year about half of all callers, and perhaps as few
as 43 percent, will be lucky to get through, Olson stated. Those who do
succeed are likely to stay on hold for 30 minutes on average.
Any questions about the tax code, which Olson describes as
"overwhelming in its complexity," had better be simple. During the
filing season, the IRS "will not answer any questions except 'basic'
ones," she said. And once filing season ends, Olson reported, "it will
not answer any tax-law questions at all." That will affect any of the
15 million taxpayers who file their returns later in the year, and who
have questions...
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