IRS Kicks Off Tax Season With New Tech, Better Workforce

In order to "significantly increase" the number of calls handled, the IRS has hired 5,000 more customer service representatives during the past several months, according to Wally Adeyemo, deputy secretary of the Treasury.

As the IRS starts to use its approximately $80 billion in funds, the tax season for individual filers began on Monday with a larger customer support team and improved technology.

In the National Taxpayer Advocate's 2022 annual report, the IRS service was identified as one of the organization's "most serious problems" due to the low live assistance rate (13% during the 2022 filing season).

The organization intends to use technology to enhance customer service as well. For example, the IRS will scan paper returns and filers will be able to react to some IRS notices online. According to Adeyemo, the IRS will increase in-person assistance at Taxpayer Assistance Centers across the nation, putting the organization on track to "triple the number of Americans served."

"These improvements showcase how we are modernizing both technology and customer service to bring the IRS into the 21st century and how the IRS plans to deploy [Inflation Reduction Act] resources in the years to come," Adeyemo added.

The Inflation Reduction Act, which was passed in August and would give the IRS $79.6 billion over the next 10 years, set out a number of goals for the IRS shortly afterward, including reducing the backlog of tax returns, enhancing customer service, modernizing technology, and adding staff.

Based on a Treasury official, the IRS intends to give Yellen a plan for almost $80 billion in financing in February. After reviewing the IRS's intentions for several months, House Republicans decided in January to reduce the recently passed funds for the agency. The legislation, meanwhile, lacks enough support in the Democratic-controlled Senate to succeed.

However, the National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins stated in her yearly report that the IRS may be prepared for a stronger 2023 filing season after making "considerable progress" in lowering the backlog.

After a trying time for the IRS, the 2023 tax filing season begins. Despite commitments to reduce the backlog, the government reported that as of Dec. 23, 1.91 million individual returns submitted in 2022 remained unprocessed.

"We have begun to see the light at the end of the tunnel," Erin Collins wrote. "I am just not sure how much further we have to travel before we see sunlight."