Tax season has officially wrapped up, with IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel declaring it as one of the best tax seasons in years. He highlighted improvements in customer service, including increased hours at walk-in sites and a significant increase in visits to the IRS website. The popular “Where’s My Refund?” feature accounted for a large portion of the website visits, with over 275 million visits this year.
The IRS call centers were also praised for their efficiency, answering over one million more taxpayer calls compared to last year, resulting in a 16% increase. The level of service on the main phone lines saw a significant improvement, reaching an 88% level of service, compared to just 15% in 2022. The average wait time for callers to the IRS was reduced to just over 3 minutes, a significant improvement from the 27-minute wait time in 2022.
The IRS also saw an increase in the use of its virtual assistant tool, with 832,000 uses this filing season, up nearly 150% from last year. Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) volunteer sites experienced another successful year, preparing 2.3 million returns for free, an increase of 200,000 from the previous year. These improvements are credited to the Inflation Reduction Act funding, which significantly boosted funding for the IRS for improvements and enforcement.
Despite the success of this year’s tax season, Werfel emphasized that more work needs to be done at the IRS. Taxpayers in Maine and Massachusetts have until April 17 to file and pay their taxes this year due to Patriots’ Day holiday on April 15 and the Emancipation Day holiday on April 16 in the District of Columbia. Additionally, around 19 million taxpayers are expected to file for an extension to file their taxes.
Werfel extended his gratitude to taxpayers for filing and paying their taxes, as well as to the tax community for their assistance during the tax season. He highlighted historic improvements in taxpayer service levels and emphasized the agency’s rebound from challenging years in the past decade. The Commissioner’s messaging from less than a year ago remains consistent, stressing the need for further enhancements at the IRS to better serve taxpayers.
