Taxpayers who do not use a tax professional for tax preparation, tax planning or tax debt relief and who have depended upon IRS assistance to prepare their own tax returns or to resolve their IRS past due tax debts may find that more of a challenge this year. USA Today reported that “Though the IRS has more work, more taxpayers and a more complex tax code to administer, Congress has carved almost $1 billion out of the agency’s budget in the past four years.” The National Society of Accountants has reported that:
- Last year, the IRS only answered 61% of calls from taxpayers seeking to speak with a customer service representative (CSR). The number of calls that were not answered was estimated at 20 million.
- Taxpayers who did get through had to wait on hold approximately 17.6 minutes before speaking with a CSR.
- Millions of taxpayers visit IRS walk-in sites each year for assistance. Ten years ago, the IRS answered some 795,000 tax law questions in the sites during the filing season. Last year, it handled about 110,000 tax law questions during the filing season – a reduction of 86 percent.
- Last year, the IRS received about 8.4 million letters from taxpayers responding to proposed adjustments to their tax liabilities. As of the end of the fiscal year, 53 percent of taxpayer letters in the IRS’s “adjustments” inventory were considered “over age” (generally, more than 45 days old). That compares with “over age” percentages of 12 percent ten years earlier and 28 percent in FY 2010.
- The IRS recently announced it will only answer “basic” tax law questions on its telephone lines and in its walk-in sites during the upcoming filing season and it will not answer any tax law questions after the filing season, including questions from the millions of taxpayers who obtain filing extensions and prepare their returns later in the year.
- Since FY 2010, the IRS’s training budget has been cut from $172 million to $22 million.
Taxpayers need to understand that when the IRS gives taxpayers incorrect verbal advice and a return is prepared incorrectly resulting in an IRS assessment for additional taxes, interest and penalties, that the IRS is held responsible only if the advice was given to the taxpayer in writing. In other words, the IRS is not held accountable for any incorrect verbal advice given and the taxpayer is responsible for paying the IRS assessment resulting from that advice.
It appears that taxpayers who prepare their own tax returns are in for a rough time if they expect better and more prompt service from the IRS. Perhaps you have already experienced the significant increases in IRS call waiting times. Perhaps you have already experienced the result of a lack of training when you have received inaccurate tax answers from IRS personnel, assuming you have been able to get any answers at all.
If you have never used a tax professional to prepare your tax returns, perhaps it is time to consider that option. You will likely find that the fees charged are not excessive and the peace of mind that comes with knowing that the return was prepared properly and the other services a tax professional can share with you are very valuable. Just be sure to carefully perform your due diligence to find an experienced tax professional.
Note: If you wish to learn more about the services provided by our firm, we invite you to call 610-594-2601 today to make an appointment at our Exton PA CPA office to discuss your situation. You can also schedule a consultation at Click Here.
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