There are several ways to contact the IRS. You can contact the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS), an independent organization within the IRS. Another option is to contact the IRS on behalf of someone else. There are also live chat bots and automated questions available to assist you with your questions.
Taxpayer Advocate Service is an independent organization within the IRS
The Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) is an independent organization within the Internal Revenue Service that works with taxpayers to help them resolve issues with the IRS. Taxpayers can contact the TAS to request an advocate, who will review their case with unbiased judgment. TAS will also keep taxpayers informed about their case and offer advice on how to avoid problems with the federal government.
The TAS provides free assistance to taxpayers who have problems with the IRS. The organization is separate from local IRS offices, and its advocates report directly to the National Taxpayer Advocate. Its advocates help resolve problems specific to a taxpayer and also identify issues that affect the entire taxpayer population.
The TAS website has many resources for taxpayers to solve common issues with the IRS. You can also contact the TAS to file a complaint. The TAS is free and available to help all taxpayers, businesses, and exempt organizations. It is important to remember that you can contact the TAS at any time, regardless of whether you’re a federal, state, or local taxpayer.
The Taxpayer Advocate Service is a federal agency with a statutory role to protect taxpayers from misunderstandings and problems. It has a number of initiatives aimed at improving the IRS’s responsiveness and taxpayer services. It also provides a list of the 20 Most Serious Problems facing taxpayers. It also reports to Congress on possible legislative changes to the Internal Revenue Code.
Erin Walsh represents thousands of taxpayers. Her experience includes representing taxpayers in federal examinations and IRS appeals. She has worked on numerous cases involving domestic and international tax issues, accounting methods, and treaty interpretation. Erin is also a member of Step Up, an organization empowering girls in underprivileged communities.
Contacting the IRS on behalf of someone else
When you contact the IRS on behalf of another individual, you have certain rights and responsibilities. First, you must have the individual’s permission to discuss his or her account. For example, if you are contacting the IRS on behalf of your spouse, you must have the individual’s written authorization. You may be able to obtain the individual’s consent verbally, but you may not be able to verify his or her identity. Otherwise, you will need to present the person with a power of attorney or declaration of representative form. You must also have a copy of the taxpayer’s tax return or the taxpayer’s tax preparer’s tax ID number.
If you are calling on behalf of someone else, you should have all of the person’s personal information on hand. IRS agents don’t have instant access to this information, so it’s important to prepare everything ahead of time. This includes their most recent tax return, their previous one, and any notices they’ve sent.
Make sure to have the person’s old tax returns on hand before calling. They may need information from the previous year’s taxes, such as adjusted gross income, and if you do not have these, you’ll waste time on hold and won’t be able to help. However, if you are unable to get the person’s old tax returns, you can always contact an enrolled agent or an accountant. They can help you understand what the notices are about and help you call the IRS on their behalf.
Whenever you are calling the IRS on behalf of someone else, make sure to note their local time. For example, Alaska and Hawaii residents should use Pacific Time while people in Puerto Rico should use their local time. You should also check the IRS website for the latest information and to avoid long wait times.
If you want someone else to contact the IRS on your behalf, you must first give them formal authorization on Form 2848. This form authorizes you to share certain tax information with the person on your behalf. The information on Form 2848 is sensitive, such as the name, date of birth, and Social Security Number.
Automated questions
Getting through to the IRS customer service department isn’t easy. Luckily, there are ways to get through to live representatives and avoid the long waits. The process involves 10 steps and involves answering a series of automated questions. One of the questions asks you if you prefer to speak in English or Spanish. Once you answer this question, you will be given options such as option 2 for personal income tax and option 1 for refund info.
The Internal Revenue Service has been using AI chat bots and voice bots to cut down on wait times for taxpayers. The software will answer common questions and even accomplish routine tasks like setting up tax payments. You can also leave the voice bots on to talk to a live representative if you have a more complex problem.
When calling the IRS customer service line, be sure to check the hours of operation. During tax season, IRS phone lines are typically open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Most callers will be waiting at least 13 minutes before an agent answers the phone. However, you may be able to get help faster if you call during off-season hours.
During the last tax season, the Internal Revenue Service had a pandemic of poor phone service. The problem began when the phone system experienced a surge of calls. Last year, only 61 percent of taxpayers received live help. An estimated 20 million people went on hold for more than half an hour. And these numbers were not even the high-end numbers.
While the tax agency is trying to improve its service, they haven’t increased their staff to keep up with the increasing call volume. Instead of hiring more employees to deal with the growing number of calls, the agency has turned to technology. This means that automated questions can now limit the number of calls that can be handled by live employees.
Live chat bots
Live chat bots for IRS customer service can help reduce the amount of time people spend on the phone with the agency. They can answer simple questions and redirect callers to a human customer service representative for more complicated issues. The technology also reduces the wait time of callers. Besides chat bots, the IRS website also provides other self-service options for taxpayers.
At the moment, IRS chat bots can help taxpayers with one-time payments, frequently asked questions, and collection notices. Later this year, the chatbot will also be able to authenticate taxpayer identities. Other features include the ability to request account information and transcripts. Customers can access the service in English and Spanish. While live chat bots won’t replace human customer service representatives, they can greatly reduce the wait time for people contacting the IRS.
The IRS is also looking at using chat bots to help with the backlog of unprocessed tax returns. At the beginning of June, the agency had 10.5 million individual returns to process. Of these, 8.5 million were paper returns that needed to be reviewed. Two million of those returns required corrections.
A voice bot will be available to help taxpayers with payment plans. It will be available 24 hours a day and can speak English and Spanish. In addition, the bot will be able to provide a transcript of a taxpayer’s accounts, including the amount of payments and the dates they should make them. The IRS is ramping up the capabilities of the bot gradually, and it is expected that the bot will reach 100% capacity within the week of January 2019.
The IRS recently announced that it has expanded its callback service to 70 percent of its toll-free lines. More than three million taxpayers have used this option this year and it has saved almost one million hours of wait time. In addition, it has also hired additional staff members and surge teams to help with the workload.