After receiving additional funding as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, the IRS has been beefing up its workforce by hiring thousands of additional agents.
Are More Agents Better?
At first glance, having more IRS agents might seem like a positive development regarding the quality of service a taxpayer receives. Anyone who has dealt with IRS phone support knows that it’s generally challenging to get a live agent on the phone without a significant wait time, leading many people to give up and seek other avenues of resolution. Hiring more agents should — at least in theory — lessen the wait and make taxpayers’ direct line of communication with the IRS more accessible.
However, this doesn’t take into account the dynamics of hiring thousands of new personnel at the same time. With such a large influx of new IRS agents, some less-than-stellar employees are bound to slip through the cracks into taxpayer-facing roles — and may end up causing you even more frustration than long wait times.
How to Handle a Frustrating Agent
It can be highly aggravating to speak with an IRS agent who makes things more difficult than they need to be. Whether it’s because the agent hasn’t received enough training in basic customer service skills or because they seem oblivious about the details of your case, these interactions are the last thing you need when dealing with an already frustrating IRS audit or debt collection issue.
Unfortunately, there are not many great solutions in these situations. You could request a different agent, which might not be possible and may end up extending your case even in the best scenario. You could attempt to self-service using the IRS website. This is a good option if your case is relatively straightforward, but more complex tax issues may require human support.
Perhaps the most effective way of handling a frustrating agent is to get outside help from an experienced tax professional. Having an enrolled agent working on your behalf can eliminate much of the financial stress and agent frustration you encounter while dealing with the IRS. Contact the Highland Tax Group and speak to one of our professionals today.