The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) meets the Affordable Phone Service
As tax day approaches on April 15, 2015, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the government agency Americans love to hate, will be implementing the mandate in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for the first time ever. It is enforced through the tax code, which is enforced by the IRS.
Elaine Kamarck details the changes in this year’s tax filing procedures that are most likely to cause confusion and complaints. In order of increasing complexity, the new law will create tax-filing changes for the following:
1.Those who had health insurance through their employer or through the private marketplace.
2.Those who took advantage of the new exchanges created by the ACA to buy health insurance.
One is the result of budget, staffing, and operational cuts at IRS; the second is the result of the mandate enforcement mechanisms built into the health law. Kamarck concludes that in spite of all the controversy over President Obama’s health care law, the problems in the initial disastrous roll-out have been mostly solved. Tax day 2015 represents the next big test in the implementation of this highly controversial law.
New Numbers Show Decline in IRS' Phone Service
Fresh numbers tracking call volume at beleaguered Internal Revenue Service help centers appear to confirm warnings from the tax agency’s leaders and its main employee union that budget cuts are making life miserable for callers as well as staffers as the April 15 filing deadline approaches.
Internal IRS performance data released at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center Wednesday by the National Taxpayer Advocate showed that as of April 6, attempts by taxpayers to dial call centers rose to 66.5 million—up 4 million over last year at the same time. About 6.3 million of those calls were answered. The agency computed a “level of service” of 37.4 percent, down 33.7 percent from last year. Average wait times rose 10 minutes.
Call centers are operating with 3,000 fewer people, which puts the agency’s goal of 80 percent responsiveness to callers out of reach. Olson said as a tax administrator, she can see the “downstream consequences” of the fruitless calls, which create a need for an IRS agent and Taxpayer Advocate Service staffer later on to resolve the issue. The charts below show how IRS' level of service, call volume and wait times have changed:
IRS promotes toll free number to avoid long lines and waits
WXIA There are ways to get around the long lines and waits. Taxpayers can, however, call a special toll-free telephone number to set up an individual face-to-face meeting with someone at the IRS. In metro Atlanta, taxpayers can call 866-855-1778. Taxpayer Jeanine Archie says she wishes she had known about it before waiting in line. Many questions can be answered there without having to take the time to go to the IRS offices and settle in for what could be a long wait to speak to someone.