{"id":29691,"date":"2019-10-04T00:00:12","date_gmt":"2019-10-04T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/individual-taxpayer-services-3\/"},"modified":"2024-01-08T11:20:56","modified_gmt":"2024-01-08T16:20:56","slug":"individual-taxpayer-services","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/our-solutions\/customer-experience\/y2019\/individual-taxpayer-services\/","title":{"rendered":"Individual Taxpayer Services"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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This customer experience profile is from 2019. To view this year\u2019s profile, click here<\/a>.<\/h5>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Virtually every U.S. worker interacts with the Internal Revenue Service at least once a year, and many of them have far more contact as they seek help with finding the right tax forms, figuring out what tax information they need to submit and resolving other issues. In fiscal 2018, taxpayers filed an estimated 250 million tax returns, called the agency for service more than 77 million times, and made nearly 3 million visits to Taxpayer Assistance Centers.  <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The IRS, whose vital role is to collect the taxes that help pay for our national defense, federal infrastructure, medical research and other important national needs, got high marks from customers for some services in fiscal 2018. Nearly 90% of customers were satisfied with their interactions with IRS employees they reached by phone or visited at assistance centers. Equally impressive is the fact that customers waited an average of only seven minutes to talk with an IRS representative in fiscal 2018 compared with 30 minutes in fiscal 2015. This reduction in wait time can be attributed to an infusion of resources and staffing after several years of budget cuts.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite these improvements, the 2019 tax filing season presented challenges, mostly due to factors outside of the agency\u2019s control. The IRS had to implement sweeping new tax law provisions for the 2019 tax season, while also dealing with the effects and aftereffects of a partial government shutdown that sent more than 85% of its workforce home for the majority of the five-week period from December 2018 to January 2019. The agency had to cancel thousands of taxpayer appointments and, when it reopened, callers experienced longer wait times and more difficulty getting through to representatives than they had during the 2018 filing season. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The agency took steps to ensure tax law changes did not negatively affect customer service during the 2019 filing season, implementing a proactive communications campaign to get ahead of frequent taxpayer questions and partnering with professionals who help taxpayers with their tax law questions. Consistent, accurate information disseminated through these channels reduced the need for people to call the agency, according to IRS officials. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The IRS\u2019 web pages could be more user friendly, according to our analysis of selected pages. Additionally, taxpayers were sometimes unable to take advantage of online services because they lacked the documentation needed to meet the requirements for verifying their identity. The IRS is exploring more convenient ways to provide needed security for its online services. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Service Overview<\/strong>
Key Services<\/p>\n\n\n\n