IRS boss: Please don't call during filing season
Health care tax forms 8962, 1095-A, and 8965.(Photo: Carolyn Kaster, AP)WASHINGTON — The nation's top tax collector urged taxpayers not to call the IRS during the coming tax season, saying that budget cuts have hampered the agency's ability to provide taxpayer service."I would caution our taxpayers to use the phone lines only as a last resort," IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said. He said callers can expect long wait times on the phone, routinely topping 30 minutes.The IRS is urging taxpayers to check the web site for forms and assistance. Last year, 20% of phone calls were questions about refund status and tax transcripts, both of which can be requested online, Koskinen said. Koskinen spoke to reporters Thursday in advance of the tax filing season that begins next Tuesday for most taxpayers. Those eligible for electronic free-filing — generally, those making $60,000 or less — can begin filing Friday.The IRS is already under fire for poor customer service. On Wednesday, Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson — the semi-independent IRS official who looks out for taxpayer interests — criticized the IRS for "unacceptably low levels" of customer service. She blamed both IRS mismanagement and Congress for failing to fully fund the agency or to pass tax reform legislation.Earlier his week, Koskinen told IRS employees that the agency would do fewer audits, cancel overtime, and possibly even shut down for two days this summer because of congressional budget cuts. With five straight years of budget cuts, he said, the agency was running out of options.Grover Norquist, the anti-tax crusader behind Americans for Tax Reform, accused the IRS Wednesday of employing the "Washington Monument" strategy of cutting the most popular programs in response to budget cuts.It's an allegation Koskinen denied. "It's clearly Illusory at this point that you can cut the budget any further and not have an impact," he said. "If I wanted to do a Washington Monument, I'd shut the place down in the middle of filing season, to demonstrate to people what it would look like. Obviously, we want to do anything but that."Like last year, the IRS expects to issue at least 90% of refunds within three weeks. But paper returns often takes four to six weeks, but "this year it could take an extra week or more" because of budget cuts, Koskinen said.One of the biggest changes in filing this year comes because of the Affordable Care Act. The 80% of taxpayers who have qualifying health insurance — either employer-provided or or through an exchange — need to check a box certifying that fact. Those who don't will have to pay a penalty.Koskinen said there will be no extraordinary audits or enforcement efforts related to that change. "Our policy will be to treat ACA like any other filing," he said.Follow @gregorykorte on Twitter.Without a net, a look at death defying stuntsJan 15, 2015
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