The news of the IRS receiving roughly $80 billion in funding over the next ten years has been out for quite some time now. Hiring more employees, where the biggest chunk of funding is expected to be used. However, the IRS is also speeding up the improvement process on things that have been in the works for multiple years, particularly in the IT category.
Pushing Service Improvements
While the Internal Revenue Service seems to be shifting its focus to hiring employees and improving its IT systems, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is also pushing them to improve the level of service in certain areas.
According to tax chair at the National Conference of CPA Practitioners Stephen Mankowski, the IRS is currently investing in over-the-phone as well as face-to-face hiring. This is a trend that is expected to continue over the next several years, according to Mankowski.
Suffering Phone Department
Breanna Whitlock is the director of the NCPE Fellowship. She and other practitioners in the fellowship are beyond fed up with the everlasting problems of the IRS’s Practitioners Priority Phone Service.
“Members have concerns about not being able to represent their clients before the IRS because, with their calls not being answered, they have no access to the IRS on their behalf,” she said. “The Practitioners Priority Service line is running a program whereby if the practitioner can get into the queue, it goes into a ‘cut-off’ mode.
With so many tax pros leaving the business, we are going to be inundated with taxpayers who are searching for a new tax advisor. Someone suggested that IRS staff were asked to work over the holidays to get inventory processed, but the union blocked it.”
IRS Online Portal
As part of the effort to improve IT services, the IRS announced the launching of its new online portal. This new portal will allow the taxpayer to file 1099’s electronically. The portal accepts both small and large volumes of form 1099.
The new system is known as IRIS. IRIS will give practitioners the ability to do many things such as choosing an electric filing option, filing electronically without software, and lastly it allows them to electronically filing 1099’s regardless of the volume.
The portal is expected to launch in 2023 and be used for the tax year 2022.
Wrap Up
While rumors have been swirling regarding the use of IRS funding to increase audits, this is relieving news for both taxpayers and practitioners. As the Internal Revenue Service will continue to receive money from congress, we can only sit back and hope that these improvements will be made.