Mark Twain once said, "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated."
Unfortunately, reports of poor Customer Service at the IRS are not.
You've likely heard reports of poor customer service from both walk-in IRS assistance centers and IRS call centers: long wait times, rude service, and wrong answers. If you've questioned the validity of the statistics, I suggest you do no longer.
The
Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration ("TIGTA") recently released the results of an audit they performed, in which they examined front-line IRS customer service. The audit specifically centered on front-line employees' use of the Contact Analytics software tool, introduced from October 2011 through December 2014. This tool was supposed .... supposed ... to not only improve IRS customer services, but also reduce the cost of providing such services to taxpayers.
What could go wrong with that, you ask?
Plenty.
TIGTA's audit found out that
71% of the front-line IRA customer service agents examined during the audit
lacked sufficient training and knowledge of the Contact Analytics software tool to use it correctly. That's right: 71%. You can
read the audit report here.
And that's simply appalling. What a waste of taxpayer money.
I'm not holding my breath for the day I'll be able to say, in Mark Twain fashion, that "the reports of poor customer service from front-line employees at the Internal Revenue Service are greatly exaggerated." Are you?
Questions about Tax Matters?
I am an
Enrolled Agent licensed by the Department of the Treasury which allows me to provide tax services to taxpayers in all 50 states and US territories. I provide tax services to
individual income, business, estate, and trust clients. Please
contact me if you have questions about
tax preparation, tax planning, or taxpayer representation (audit and collection) matters.
For information about my nationwide
Consulting, Expert Witness, and Tax Services visit
Fouts Financial Group.
Mary Rae Fouts
