February 2, 2025 10:46 pm

IRS Still Can’t Do Job Right, Even After $80 Billion ‘Upgrade’

Despite an $80 billion upgrade to improve its customer service, the IRS still cannot process tax returns on time.

This is according to a report that the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) published late last month.

“The agency set a 13-day processing goal for individual paper returns but instead averaged 20. In addition, IRS responses to taxpayer mail continued to be delayed, with 66% considered late at the end of filing season,” according to the GAO report, referring to what happened last year, in 2024.

“The agency has a webpage showing the receipt date of taxpayer mail it is processing. But the webpage didn’t provide timeframes for when taxpayers should expect a response.”

The IRS, the report went on to say, actually improved its customer service to taxpayers in 2023 and served more taxpayers by phone and in person. Taxpayers call these hotlines to ask questions, order forms, or learn when they’ll get their tax refunds.

The feds set aside $80 billion in 2022 to upgrade the IRS customer service hotlines. Nevertheless, the final results leave a lot of room for improvement, as reported in an audit that the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) published the following year.

Taxpayers, in their dealings with the IRS, need correct and concrete information to help them avoid legal trouble. IRS employees, for instance, can raid taxpayers’ homes, harass them at work and confiscate their earnings. Those agents can also garnish their wages, seize their properties and throw them in prison.

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IRS managers’ full names and office telephone numbers appear on manual correspondence with taxpayers.

As RVIVR reported in 2023, people who call the IRS often wait on hold for hours. Some give up. Customers then contact one or more agents through their personal social media or — gasp — at their homes. Those agents say they feel threatened.

IRS employees can impose heavy penalties upon people who do not file their income taxes on time.

Special thanks to Warhammer’s Wife proofreading this story before publication to make certain there were no misspellings, grammatical errors or other embarrassing mistakes and/or typos. Follow Warhammer on Twitter @Real_Warhammer