IRS RESPONSE TO RECOMMENDATION: IRS agrees to implement the TAS recommendation in full.

The IRS began taking steps to fully staff Taxpayer Assistance Centers in September 2022, with the first vacancy announcement posted on November 7, 2022. We initially announced over 700 Individual Taxpayer Advisory Specialist and Initial Assistance Representative positions. As of February 27, 2023, we have onboarded over 360 new hires. A roster was announced and posted on January 25, 2023, and is open until July 24, 2023. Hiring will continue to staff all locations.

To offer extended services to taxpayers, we also offer walk-in services available at Taxpayer Experience Day events held one Saturday per month in selected cities during the filing season.

Additionally, as part of implementing the IRS Inflation Reduction Act Strategic Operating Plan, the IRS will continue to focus on improving the availability and accessibility of customer service options, including for services offered at TAC locations.

CORRECTIVE ACTION: The IRS will continue to focus on improving the availability and accessibility of customer service options, including for services offered at TAC locations.

TAS RESPONSE: The IRS has made progress in fully staffing its TAC offices but still needs to add more resources. With the continued hiring and focus provided for in the IRS’s Inflation Reduction Act Strategic Operating Plan, taxpayers should soon experience improved availability and accessibility options at IRS TAC office locations.

Update: Per IR-2023-126, July 14, 2023 News Release, IRS has resumed Community Assistance Visits and reopened and staffed 32 TAC offices, while adding 3 new TAC offices.

ADOPTED, PARTIALLY ADOPTED or NOT ADOPTED: Adopted

OPEN or CLOSED: Closed

DUE DATE FOR ACTION (if left open): N/A

IRS RESPONSE TO RECOMMENDATION: The IRS does not agree to implement the TAS recommendation.

The process of allowing taxpayers to schedule their appointment online is not in alignment with our current service delivery model. We currently serve taxpayers in the most efficient channel to resolve their issue, which in most tax account instances is over the telephone. This method saves taxpayers unnecessary visits to a Taxpayer Assistance Center (TAC) while improving the availability of TAC resources to serve taxpayers who do. In addition, we will explore capabilities within an expanded scheduling tool to allow taxpayers who have received a notice and must resolve their issue at a TAC access to a potential tool that will allow them to schedule a visit without calling the appointment line.

CORRECTIVE ACTION: N/A

TAS RESPONSE: The IRS’s current TAC service delivery model is theoretically efficient but realistically inadequate. In FY 2022, taxpayers made 10,779,159 calls to the TAC office appointment telephone line, with only 1,186,852 calls (11 percent) reaching an employee for assistance. Of the calls reaching assistance, 500,729 were either resolved by phone or the IRS did not schedule an appointment because appointment availability did not meet the caller’s scheduling needs (IRS data does not make a quantifying distinction between the two). Only 686,123 calls (about 58 percent of the 11 percent) reaching assistance were resolved with a scheduled TAC appointment. The current TAC service delivery model artificially limits TAC services to those taxpayers able to reach scheduling assistance on the IRS’s appointment telephone line – sacrificing 89 percent service for a potential 11 percent efficiency, while also adding to taxpayer burden and frustration. During the 2023 filing season ending April 22, 2023, the TAC appointment telephone line improved but remained deficient, with only 46 percent of the 1,984,350 calls to this telephone line reaching an IRS employee for appointment assistance. Absent the IRS’s ability to provide an adequate Level of Service on its TAC appointment telephone line, the IRS should explore an automated appointment scheduling system that can provide increased service to all taxpayers, despite risking some degree of efficiency.

ADOPTED, PARTIALLY ADOPTED or NOT ADOPTED: Not Adopted

OPEN or CLOSED: Closed

DUE DATE FOR ACTION (if left open): N/A

IRS RESPONSE TO RECOMMENDATION: ​The IRS agrees but cannot implement due to security constraints.

The IRS is interested in the expansion of Web Service Delivery (WebSD) services or other virtual face to face services. WebSD provides a unique opportunity to enhance the quality-of-service taxpayers can attain by being a more readily accessible route to service. However, the current iteration of WebSD is not a dedicated program within the IRS, but a pilot testing the capability to expand face-to-face services using technology.

As we apply lessons learned from the pilot, the IRS can evaluate the WebSD capability to scale for the inclusion of additional high demand services, contingent on competing agency priorities. We may develop and deploy a permanent solution to provide online face-to- face services but including Taxpayer Protection Program (TPP) verification will be extremely difficult due to privacy/security considerations to protect both taxpayers and the IRS from harmful actors.

CORRECTIVE ACTION: N/A

TAS RESPONSE: TAS understands that WebSD is still in the pilot stage and that the IRS is exploring the inclusion of additional high demand services as deemed practical given current privacy/security considerations. TAS is encouraged by the IRS’s willingness to increase WebSD services, whenever possible, and will monitor these efforts for success.

ADOPTED, PARTIALLY ADOPTED or NOT ADOPTED: Adopted

OPEN or CLOSED: Closed

DUE DATE FOR ACTION (if left open): N/A

IRS RESPONSE TO RECOMMENDATION: ​IRS agrees to implement the TAS recommendation in part.

The IRS Acceptance Agent and Certifying Acceptance Agent processes require an application, training, and ongoing enrollment. Creating a program solely for the purpose of authenticating for the Taxpayer Protection Program (TPP) would be costly and may not protect IRS from potentially unscrupulous preparers who may attempt to enroll in the program to verify fraudulent returns they filed.

• The IRS recognizes the need to increase taxpayer services and location options and continues to look for opportunities to expand access for authorization services and timeframes. Actions taken to date include:
• The IRS has extended the timeframe a taxpayer selected by TPP may authenticate themselves in one of multiple channels including on-line, by phone, and in-person.
• The IDVerify application protected behind the IRS Secure Access Digital Identity (SADI) remains available 24 hours per day and allows for improved access and security for taxpayers required to authenticate their identities.
• Taxpayers with Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITIN) are now able to use SADI to access IDVerify. The acceptance of ITIN credentials began December 4, 2022, allowing the IRS to offer an online option for authentication while reducing the demand on the phone lines moving into 2023.
• We are partnering with the Low-Income Taxpayer Clinics to offer authentication assistance.
• TAS employees can also complete TPP authentications where possible. We fully encourage these partnerships because they ultimately improve the taxpayer experience and reduces refund delays.

CORRECTIVE ACTION: N/A – Actions have already been completed.

TAS RESPONSE: The IRS has recognized the need to expand timeframes and access to taxpayers requiring TPP authentication. By taking steps to sufficiently staff TAC office locations and improve online TPP authentication access, the IRS should be better equipped to more readily provide taxpayers with necessary TPP authentication services. The IRS has partnered with Low Income Taxpayer Clinics to offer qualifying taxpayers an additional avenue for navigating the TPP authentication process, and TAS looks forward to exploring a similar partnership benefiting more taxpayers. TAS will monitor the success of these recently implemented TPP actions.

ADOPTED, PARTIALLY ADOPTED or NOT ADOPTED: Adopted

OPEN or CLOSED: Closed

DUE DATE FOR ACTION (if left open): N/A

IRS RESPONSE TO RECOMMENDATION: ​The IRS does not agree to implement the TAS recommendation.

This recommendation is not aligned with the IRS’s Field Assistance mission to provide quality service to taxpayers requiring face-to-face assistance and self-service. Having this capability could possibly increase service demand deflecting resources from those who must use TAC services, as taxpayers may want to come to the TAC to submit returns versus electronically filing.

CORRECTIVE ACTION: N/A

TAS RESPONSE: Internal Revenue Manual 21.3.4.2.4.2(10), TAC Appointment Exception Procedures, indicate that taxpayers may drop off current year tax returns without the need for an appointment. Additionally, the IRS has committed to offering extended walk-in services to taxpayers at Taxpayer Experience Day events held one Saturday per month in selected cities during the filing season – events that may further generate tax return and document receipts. Implementing a process that would allow TAC offices to forward documents and tax return submissions electronically at the point of receipt (perhaps directly into the processing stream) would reduce the volume of paper inventory, improve efficiency, reduce mailing delays, and increase customer satisfaction. Digitalizing document and tax return submissions would seemingly enhance rather than detract from the Field Assistance mission to provide quality service to taxpayers requiring face-to-face assistance.

ADOPTED, PARTIALLY ADOPTED or NOT ADOPTED: Not Adopted

OPEN or CLOSED: Closed

DUE DATE FOR ACTION (if left open): N/A