After several turbulent tax years marked by the uncertainty of COVID-19 and its associated tax credit modifications and other changes to the tax code, plus a rocky transition to remote work for Internal Revenue Service employees, the IRS began this tax season on a much more solid footing.
Thanks in part to an infusion of new funding, the IRS has made tremendous gains in addressing the backlogs and hiring challenges of recent years that were hurting customer service and crippling the taxpayer experience. According to Treasury Department data, the IRS increased its level of service from 15 percent in 2022 to 87 percent last year, reduced its backlog of unprocessed paper returns by 80% and hired more than 16,405 new staff in FY 2023. After decades of underfunding and declining service, these are meaningful improvements for an agency that turns 161 years old this year.
Read Full Article »
