Cathy A. Robinson, CPA
Senior Manager
You may have read one of our most recent blogs
in regards to identity theft. To reiterate, we advised those who are victims of
fraud and identity theft to contact the IRS. What you should expect, however,
is there’s a strong possibility you will be experience a wait time.
According to an article in Accounting Today, due to
budget cuts the IRS customer service has suffered greatly. The article reports
the IRS answered only 32 percent of taxpayer calls routed to a customer service
representative. Hold time, for taxpayers able to get through, averaged 23
minutes.
Meanwhile, the Practitioner Priority Service Line was
answered 45 percent of the time, with a hold time averaging 45 minutes.
You may also experience what the IRS calls a “courtesy
disconnect.” This occurs when the IRS switchboard is overloaded and it cannot
handle anymore calls. In 2014, this happened to 544,000 callers. This number
skyrocketed in 2015 to an alarming 8.8 million people.
If you end up on the phone with an IRS agent remember you
aren’t the only experiencing a wait time. Please be patient, and remember
they’re there to help.
No comments:
Post a Comment