Treasury
Inspector General for Tax Administration
Office of Audit
THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE IS
TAKING SEVERAL ACTIONS TO IMPROVE ITS TOLL‑FREE TELEPHONE PERFORMANCE FOR
THE 2010 FILING SEASON
Issued on March 2, 2010
Highlights
Highlights of
Report Number: 2010-40-031 to the
Internal Revenue Service Commissioner for the Wage and Investment Division.
IMPACT ON TAXPAYERS
The Internal Revenue Service’s
(IRS) toll-free telephone system planning is on course for the 2010 Filing
Season; however, taxpayer call demand may exceed projections if planned actions
are not implemented on schedule. For
example, if the expected assistors are not hired and trained before the filing
season, taxpayer access will be lower and wait times will be longer for those
waiting to speak with an assistor. Also,
if the Web-based and telephone applications for the Electronic Filing Personal
Identification Number are not completed on time, taxpayers will need to call
the IRS or visit a
WHY TIGTA DID THE AUDIT
Each year, millions of taxpayers contact the IRS by
calling its various toll-free telephone assistance lines to seek help in
understanding tax laws and meeting their tax obligations. The objective of this audit was to determine
if the IRS adequately planned for the 2010 Filing Season, including the
effect of legislative and other events on toll-free telephone access and
customer service.
WHAT
TIGTA FOUND
For the last two filing
seasons, the toll-free Level of Service has been decreasing and the time to
respond to calls has been increasing.
The Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 affected toll-free telephone access
and performance measures for both the 2008 Filing Season and Fiscal Year
2008. Calls regarding the prior year Adjusted Gross Income, the Recovery Rebate
Credit, and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act)
affected the 2009 Filing Season. Many of
the provisions in the Recovery Act will also affect Tax Year 2009 returns that will
be filed during the 2010 Filing Season.
The IRS is taking several
actions to help ensure it will be able to provide a 71.2 percent Level of
Service for the 2010 Filing Season. To
reduce the burden on telephone assistors and improve taxpayer service, the IRS
is taking the following actions/initiatives for this filing season:
·
Increasing the number of assistors available during
the fiscal year.
·
Establishing six applications to handle Recovery Act
call volume.
·
Developing a Web-based application for taxpayers who
do not have their prior year Adjusted Gross Income or Personal Identification
Number.
However, delays to any of the initiatives listed above
would pose significant risk for delivering a successful filing season. Furthermore, the effects of existing and new
legislation may increase the volume of calls received during the 2010 Filing Season. For example, millions of taxpayers may be
negatively affected by the reduced withholding associated with the Making Work
Pay Credit and unexpectedly owe taxes. In
addition, the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009 was
signed into law on November 6, 2009.
This newly enacted law has several provisions that affect tax law,
thereby affecting taxpayer call demand.
WHAT TIGTA RECOMMENDED
TIGTA
did not make any recommendations in this report.
In
their response to the report, IRS management stated that all three initiatives
listed in our report were successfully and timely deployed.
READ THE
FULL REPORT
To view the report,
including the scope, methodology, and full IRS response, go to:
http://www.treas.gov/tigta/auditreports/2010reports/201040031fr.html.
Email Address: inquiries@tigta.treas.gov
Phone Number: 202-622-6500
Web Site:
http://www.tigta.gov