According to a report to Congress released on Wednesday, the IRS has processed tens of millions of tax returns quicker this year than in previous years, and phone customer service is growing slightly better.
Yet, there is a critical need to increase the number of call takers and upgrade the agency’s information technology services. Yet, after years of backlogs and decades of underfunding, it’s a significant improvement.
IRS Shows Significant Progress
The IRS reduced its backlog of unprocessed paper tax returns by 80%, from 13.3 million at the end of the 2022 filing season to 2.6 million at the conclusion of the 2023 filing season, according to the most recent report on the IRS from National Taxpayer Advocate Erin M. Collins.
Also, compared to 11% earlier, 35% of calls are now answered.
The IRS earned $80 billion for tax collection efforts as a result of the tax, health care, and environmental legislation that President Joe Biden signed into law last year.
The money was used right away by agency management to expand the IRS workforce, which had decreased to levels last seen in the 1970s due to retirements, attrition, and poor compensation that had not kept up with inflation.
The agency most recently lost some of that money when the president and Congress chose to recoup more than $20 billion in return for postponing the country’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling.
Officials from the Biden administration have given assurances that the funding reductions will have little to no effect on the agency’s functioning in the coming years.
Read more: IRS Achieves 80% Reduction In Tax Return Backlog And Improves Phone Service Responsiveness
Delays In Identity Theft Cases And Urgent Need For Technology Modernization
According to Collins’ assessment, the IRS has tried to get by with the staff it has in order to meet the customer service objectives set by the Treasury Department, but this has resulted in other issues.
For instance, it now takes an average of 15 months for victim aid cases involving identity theft to be resolved.
The IRS, under the direction of new Commissioner Daniel Werfel, released information about how it intended to use the money for improved operations earlier this year.
The IRS pledged to make additional technological investments, recruit more customer service representatives, and expand its ability to audit high-net-worth taxpayers.
The IRS was recommended in the report by Collins’ office to concentrate its efforts on updating antiquated technologies designed to enhance the taxpayer experience.
