Practitioner Help Line

[Lee B]

"An article in Tax Notes Today Federal reported that Ken Corbin, the IRS’s taxpayer experience officer and Wage and Investment Division Commissioner, stated that the IRS was now answering phone calls to the practitioner helpline in under 10 minutes.  Mr. Corbin made this statement in a virtual event hosted by the California Society of Enrolled Agents on January 18, 2023.[1]

Mr. Corbin is cited as stating that the agency is transitioning a workforce of over 12,000 employees back to answering phones.[2]

The article also notes that Mr. Corbin gave some credit for the improvement to the IRS program looking to reduce the effectiveness of robocalling systems."

[Terry D EA]

Answering the phone quicker is a plus. Getting an Agent that knows what they're doing is another thing. I got through the other day and very quickly I could tell the agent wasn't going to be able to handle my issue. Then referred me to the phone number on the notice. This was a CP2000 they could have handled. The number on the CP2000 is far less helpful than the PPL.

[Slippery Pencil]

They also claim they've caught up on the tax return backlog, yet my clients are still receiving the "we need an additional 60 days" letter every two months regarding their 2020 returns.

I got through to the irs in about 10 minutes three times one day last week.  Every time they put me on hold to get the faxed POA, I was disconnected when they picked up the line again (which for some reason it took 10 minutes to pick up the POA off the fax machine).  The third agent told me they were having a problem with the phone system where it would disconnect everyone they put on hold. 

So yes, they're picking up the phone quicker, but I'd take their report with a grain of salt.  Then there's also the fact that they're spending all this money just to get back to the shitty service level of 2020 and not making any actual improvements.