{"id":29609,"date":"2021-11-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-16T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/individual-taxpayer-services\/"},"modified":"2022-11-15T10:26:55","modified_gmt":"2022-11-15T15:26:55","slug":"individual-taxpayer-services","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/our-solutions\/customer-experience\/y2021\/individual-taxpayer-services\/","title":{"rendered":"Individual Taxpayer Services"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n<\/i>Back to Customer Experience Profiles<\/span><\/a>\n\n\n\n
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Internal Revenue Service, Department of the Treasury<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Executive Summary<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Data Highlights<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Customer Experience Insights<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Delivering Services Equitably<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leading Customer Experience Practices<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The IRS played a major role in the country\u2019s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and 2021, delivering hundreds of millions of Economic Impact Payments to help people weather the crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The agency also expanded its commitment to delivering a streamlined experience for taxpayers\u2014appointing its first chief taxpayer experience officer and issuing a comprehensive customer experience strategy.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the pandemic, Americans flocked to the IRS\u2019 website for assistance\u2014visits increased by 145% in 2020. However, identity verification requirements, designed to protect taxpayer identities, can make it hard for people to access authenticated IRS accounts to take advantage of personalized, self-service features such as making payments. In response to this challenge, in 2021 the IRS piloted an improved authentication service intended to increase the authentication rate for digital services. Some of the information or support functions customers often look for online\u2014such as a detailed update as to why their refund has been delayed\u2014are unavailable, leading people to call the agency for additional information. But while people calling the IRS continued to have difficulty getting through, particularly as the agency handled unprecedented pandemic-related demand, those who did speak with an agent usually had a good experience receiving help\u2014emphasizing, alongside other improvements, the urgency of continuing to expand the IRS\u2019 automated callback system after years of staff cuts.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Service Overview<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Primary\u202fcustomers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The individuals, businesses, nonprofit organizations and charities that must file taxes, as well as tax professionals who help others prepare their tax filings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key services for individual taxpayers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  • Tax-return processing.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Collection and processing of tax payments.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Processing of tax refunds and assistance with inquiries about refund status.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Access to tax records.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Answers to taxpayer questions about how to fulfill tax responsibilities.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Delivery of financial benefits to taxpayers, such as the Economic Impact Payments and the Advanced Child Tax Credit.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Service snapshot (All data for fiscal year 2020, unless otherwise specified)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    • ~82.5 million<\/strong> attempted calls<\/strong> to IRS accounts management customer service lines.1<\/sup><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • 1.6 billion<\/strong> visits<\/strong> to IRS.gov.2<\/sup><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • 1 million<\/strong> face-to-face contacts<\/strong> through IRS Taxpayer Assistance Centers.3<\/sup><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • 242 million<\/strong> federal tax returns and forms processed.4<\/sup><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Through June 2021, more than 470 million Economic Impact Payments<\/strong> delivered.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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      Data Highlights<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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      of callers found IRS employees to be helpful.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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      hours of hold time for callers saved after the IRS implemented an automated callback feature.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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      of taxpayers who were able to meet the IRS\u2019 authentication standards and register for a new online account.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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      of callers to the IRS\u2019 main customer service line who reached an agent, due to impacts related to the pandemic.5<\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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      Customer Experience Insights<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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      Improvement from last year<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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      Room for improvement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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      <\/i><\/span> People who call the IRS can have trouble reaching a representative, making it hard for them to get important information such as the status of a delayed refund. <\/div>\r\n\t\t\t
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      Customers often call the IRS for information or services they are unable to access online. Outdated technology and operational challenges during the shift of agents to remote work during the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the loan of IRS call center staff to FEMA to help with the pandemic response, all made it difficult for the IRS to deal with a high volume of calls in fiscal 2020. This trend continued when the tax filing season began in early 2021, with the agency answering only one in 50 calls on some phone lines.6<\/sup><\/p>\n