From now until April 15, many Americans will have taxes on their minds. So the recent news about the IRS will have many taxpayers ready to cry “Uncle!” According to a recent article in USA Today, it is getting more difficult to contact the IRS with questions. The article quotes John Koskinen, IRS Commissioner, as saying that "[g]iven our very limited resources, phone lines will be very busy, and there will frequently be extensive wait times.” Extensive measured in hours and not minutes! One issue is that the IRS budget has been significantly cut and there has been a decreasing amount of funds allocated for training new employees. Couple this with the “aging out” of their workforce, as IRS employees near retirement, this would leave a big shortfall in the number of employees left to answer calls and assist taxpayers with questions and respond to problems. And little problems between taxpayers and the IRS can quickly grow to very big problems, particularly when interest and penalties accrue on unpaid tax amounts. The tax code has become more complicated with each passing year. I started my career with the IRS and can attest to that. One bright side is that taxpayers may be able to get some on line help via the IRS website. You may be able to find out when your tax refund will be sent and also access tax filings for prior years. Bottom line: don’t ignore any letter from the IRS. Seek professional help quickly since chances are that you will not be able to reach anyone on the IRS telephone lines very easily in the near future.
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