Taxpayers have trouble finding IRS assistance centers

The Internal Revenue Service is trying to fully staff its in-person Taxpayer Assistance Centers around the country and set up temporary ones in remote areas where taxpayers can meet face-to-face with IRS employees, but first it has to make them easier to locate, according to a new report.

The report, released Thursday by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, looked at whether taxpayers could easily find accurate information about the centers' hours of operation, office addresses and local phone numbers. In many cases, they couldn't.

"Difficulties exist for taxpayers seeking information on the IRS's website about TACs as the information is not prominently displayed and the search feature likely will not result in a taxpayer being directed to the TAC information they are seeking," said the report. "Information the IRS provides to taxpayers on its website, the IRS2Go mobile App and the recorded information on local TAC telephone lines is inconsistent and inaccurate as it relates to key contact information, as well as the specific services offered at a particular TAC."

Timothy Fadek/Bloomberg

The report found that taxpayers who are looking for face-to-face help can have a hard time finding the office addresses, hours of operation and services provided, whether they're looking for the information on IRS.gov, the IRS2Go mobile App, or calling the local phone number for a TAC. 

The IRS actually has a Contact Your Local IRS Office web page that's supposed to offer that kind of information on the TACs. But a link to this web page wasn't prominently displayed on the IRS.gov homepage at the time of the report, making it harder for taxpayers to locate the information. In addition, the search feature on IRS.gov didn't give relevant links when searching for "taxpayer assistance center." The TAC information was also challenging to locate using the IRS2Go mobile App.

What's more, the face-to-face Saturday hours offered by the IRS at some of the offices during tax season couldn't be found easily on the IRS's website. TIGTA's evaluation discovered that the details in the recorded messages on the local phone numbers weren't always consistent, up to date or correct, and didn't provide an option to hear the message in Spanish. 

Taxpayers aren't always notified in time when the offices are closed, and information regarding whether the TACs furnish walk-in services is inconsistent and vague. TIGTA sent an email to the IRS in late January spelling out its initial concerns, so IRS officials were able to take action to improve taxpayer service this past filing season. 

TIGTA made 10 recommendations in the report, suggesting that the IRS:

• Update its website and IRS2Go mobile App to prominently show a link to the TAC information;
• Enhance the search engine;
• Make sure info on the Saturday office hours can be easily located and searched;
• Make sure its local phone numbers actually operate and that recorded messages offer basic, correct and consistent information;
• Update its website to include specific information on the centers in Spanish;
• Offer a Spanish-language option on the recorded messages;
• Evaluate whether walk-ins can be accommodated at the facilities and if not, that info should be clearly communicated to taxpayers.

The IRS agreed with eight of the 10 recommendations in the report. For the other two suggestions, IRS officials contended that updating the local TAC recorded messages to provide taxpayers with current information isn't feasible and that its current processes and procedures prevent appointments from being scheduled outside each center's hours of operation. 

The IRS has already taken steps to address many of the recommendations in the report.

"Our goal is to be easily accessible for taxpayers seeking assistance," wrote Kenneth Corbin, commissioner of the IRS's Wage and Investment Division, in response to the report. "To achieve this, we have updated the IRS.gov webpage design and IRS2Go mobile application, making them more flexible and functional while adhering to the objectives of the 21st Century Integrated Experience Digital Act."

He pointed out that in February, the IRS's Office of Online Analysis conducted a keyword analysis of the 2022 search data for "Contact Your Local IRS Office" page and reviewed home page visitor behavior on IRS.gov. On a seasonal basis, the office updates the top nine links on the home page based on visitor behavior and search metrics. The IRS has also improved the search results for TACs by adding another list of keywords and phrases to the "Best bets" at the top of the search results, increased promotion of the TACs by adding the Taxpayer Assistance Center Locator to the tools and applications carousel on the site, and added a link to the secondary navigation menu. The IRS has also updated the content on the page to make the Saturday face-to-face hours more prominent.

The agency recently announced ambitious plans for expanding in-person assistance. This year, the IRS began offering community assistance visits, setting up temporary TAC locations to give taxpayers from underserved areas face-to-face meetings with IRS agents.