The troubles at the IRS for taxpayers are worse than I thought. It is more important than ever that you take action and file your taxes electronically.
I recently spoke with an accountant that I work with frequently. He attended a tax preparation seminar in which he was told the following shocking information:
- In fiscal year 2021 the IRS received over 280 million telephone calls and only answered about 32 million of them, which is 11% of the calls.
- The IRS finished the 2021 filing season with a backlog of over 35 million returns that required manual processing.
- Presently the IRS has a backlog of 4.75 million pieces of paper correspondence that need to be handled.
Why should you care?
Well, if you have filed a paper return, as some of you must if you deal with estate income tax returns, and there was a problem, you won’t be notified by the IRS for a very long time. If you have a question and need assistance, the odds are not in your favor that you will receive assistance. It’s so bad that the Taxpayer Advocate’s office announced in November that it could not accept new cases.
Normally when having problems with the IRS, I’d advise a client to call them. Unfortunately, the likelihood you’ll get your call answered is low. Maybe you’ll be one of the lucky 11%, but you should have a backup plan just in case.
I also would have advised you to contact the Taxpayer Advocate’s office, but they also are now backlogged and may not have opened their offices to assist people yet.
What are my options?
There is still hope for you to resolve your issues. While this method isn’t commonly used, it can be very effective in getting some resolution.
Call your representatives in Congress – your Representative or your Senator. In order to stay in office, they must find ways to support members of the community like yourself in resolving issues that are out of their control. They are looking for opportunities to play the hero and help citizens resolve their problems. It looks good for them, helps you, and helps secure future re-election. But they can only help you solve your problems if they know about them. The only way they will know a problem exists and take action is if you make your problem theirs.
How to Connect with Congress
So the first step is to draft your letter, explain your problem and why you believe Congress should be notified, and what they can do to help. Be specific, because they may provide assistance but if you aren’t clear in what you need, the help they provide may not be what you were hoping for. So tell them exactly what you want from them.
Next, you need to find out how to contact them. Thankfully, again because they want to hear from you, they make it fairly easy to reach them. You can find all the information you need such as phone numbers, email addresses, and mailing addresses from this website: https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials You can also learn more about the individuals who represent your area.
Typically their staff should be efficient with contacting you regarding your inquiry. But don’t wait. If you mail a letter, follow it up with a phone call to confirm they received your letter and ask if you can be assigned a direct contact that will work with you to resolve the issue.
So, file your taxes electronically when possible. If not, work with a tax expert that can help you, and if you are still having difficulties contact your local Congressional Representative and enlist their offices’ assistance.