WASHINGTON (AP) — I.R.S. improved taxpayer services through Democratic Party's Inflation Control Act But still faced with processing claims from. Tax Credit Programs During the Coronavirus Pandemic An independent watchdog report released Wednesday found that certain identity theft cases are being resolved slowly.
“For the first time since I became the Tax Advocate in 2020, I can start this report with good news: The taxpayer experience has improved markedly,” said Erin M. Collins, 2024 President to Congress. wrote in its annual report.
She said that with billions of dollars in funding over multiple years, “the IRS has made great strides,” but noted that “IRS services are still far from perfect.”
Remaining service gaps include long delays in resolving claims from nearly half a million taxpayers whose identities were stolen by fraudsters and who instead received refunds. delays are increasing From 19 months of 2023 The report says it will take 22 months to reach 2024.
Additionally, the report states that there are long delays in resolving eligible Employee Retention Credit claims filed by employers who rely on these reimbursements to stay in business.
The Employee Retention Credit (ERC) was designed to help businesses retain employees during pandemic-era shutdowns; It quickly became a magnet for scams.. Its complex eligibility rules allowed scammers to target small and medium-sized businesses and offer application assistance for a fee, even if they were not eligible.
In September 2023, IRS announces suspension The decision was made to accept applications for tax credits until 2024 after concerns grew that the flood of applications were fraudulent.
“Although the IRS has processed hundreds of thousands of claims in recent months, there are still approximately 1.2 million claims outstanding as of October 26, 2024,” Collins said in a report Wednesday. Ta. One year. ”
IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel said, “In terms of our track record in serving taxpayers, things are moving in a very positive direction,'' but that “identity theft is the biggest service gap right now.'' I think so,” he said. He said authorities are seeing an increase in the number of theft victims overall than before the pandemic, in part because scammers are increasingly moving to online fraud.
To help resolve taxpayers' problems more quickly, the agency will add more resources to the problem and differentiate between complex and simple cases to improve identity theft cases, Werfel said. He said that he was rationalizing the
Taxpayer advocates, among other recommendations, would expand the U.S. Tax Court's jurisdiction to hear refund cases, give the Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic Program more funding to assist taxpayers; Urges Congress to require the IRS to process requests for refunds or credits in a timely manner. manner.
