The Internal Revenue Service says enhanced customer service is leading to fewer problems this tax filing season. More than 71 million Americans have already filed their taxes this spring.
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The Internal Revenue Service says enhanced customer service is leading to fewer problems this tax filing season. More than 71 million Americans have already filed their taxes this spring.
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
Have you paid your taxes yet? Only one month left until April 15th.
So far, the IRS says this year’s tax filing season is going smoothly. Paper tax returns no longer pile up in government cafeterias. And frustrated callers don’t give up on unanswered phone lines.
The agency is investing billions of dollars to improve customer service and pursue tax fraud by the wealthy. And the IRS wants people to know that.
“Sometimes it’s the little things that matter,” IRS Commissioner Danny Wuerffel told an audience at American University last week. “As this filing season, we added callback functionality to our main 1-800 number, ending the days of taxpayers having to sit on hold listening to elevator music. ”
Here are three things you need to know about this year’s tax season.
No more backlog
As of March 15, the IRS received the following information: Over 71 million tax returns — about half of the total expected by the April 15 deadline — and 98% of it has been processed. This year, almost all returns will be filed electronically, which will help reduce paper delays.
Approximately 7 out of 10 people who have filed tax returns are owed a refund. And the average refund amount was $3,109, an increase of 6% from last year.
But even if everything goes well, the tax collector is a punching bag. Secretary Werfel began his speech at American University by playing a Simpsons video clip of Homer booing the IRS.
Werfel hopes the service improvements will help. The agency hired thousands of additional telephone operators last year to answer questions from taxpayers. It also opened dozens of new walk-in centers across the country. And we’re enhancing our website so more people can find information there.
Experimenting with new free filing service
This year, the IRS is testing new program This will allow taxpayers to bypass commercial tax officials and file electronic returns directly to the government for free. This is a limited pilot program, available in only 12 states and to people with relatively simple tax returns. The official release took place less than two weeks ago, and since then more than 50,000 people have tried it.
This is small compared to, say, TurboTax, which prepared 45. a million I came back last year. But if the Direct File pilot is successful, the IRS hopes to expand it, despite fierce opposition from commercial tax preparation companies and their allies in Congress.
“Nothing is free,” Rep. Carol Miller (R-Va.) told Werfel during a congressional hearing last month. “I don’t think we should waste millions of dollars when private industry is doing well.”
The IRS commissioner has repeatedly said that if people use commercial software or hire an accountant to do their taxes, that’s fine. Direct File is just another tool.
Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Daniel Wuerffel testifies before the House Ways and Means Committee at the Longworth House Office Building on the Capitol Building in Washington, DC, on February 15, 2024. Mr. Werfel testified about improvements to the IRS since the agency received an $80 billion budget last year.
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Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Daniel Wuerffel testifies before the House Ways and Means Committee at the Longworth House Office Building on Capitol Hill on February 15, 2024 in Washington, DC. Mr. Werfel testified about improvements to the IRS since the agency received an $80 billion budget last year.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
“The goal is to provide options to taxpayers,” Werfel said. “And what we heard from taxpayers was that they were interested in the option of filing directly with the IRS for free.”
This could result in significant savings for taxpayers. The average person spends about $140 a year just on tax preparation.
Crack down on tax fraud by wealthy people
For years, many taxes went uncollected because the IRS lacked resources. But under the Inflation Control Act, Democrats earmarked $80 billion for tax collectors over 10 years. Some of that money goes to go after wealthy people and corporations who avoid paying taxes.
This year, the IRS began auditing corporate jets for possible inappropriate use. It targets billionaires who are behind on their taxes. And it focuses on 125,000 wealthy people who haven’t even filed a tax return in the past six years.
“We will not allow these high-income earners to fail in their basic civic duty of filing their tax returns and paying what they are owed,” Werfel said.
Congressional Republicans continue to cut the IRS budget. They have already cut $80 billion to $60 billion. From a federal budget perspective, this is counterproductive because every dollar spent on tax enforcement generates between $2 and $6 in additional revenue.
By taking extensive enforcement actions, the IRS hopes to deter others from trying to avoid their tax obligations. We also want to ensure that everyone who files taxes this spring is paying their fair share, too.
