IRS Watchdog: Elderly and Disabled Taxpayers Not Allowed to Leave Messages

Looks like the IRS has conjured up more devilish policies.

This time they are apparently prohibiting some people from accessing their help desks.

Odd one.

I wonder if Lois Lerner was involved in the recommendation committee

In its annual Report to Congress today, the office of the National Taxpayer Advocate outlined a series of Internal Revenue Service failures. In the “Access to the IRS” section, the report details the trouble taxpayers face reaching the right person in order to meet their tax obligations:

"The IRS does not answer the phone at local offices and has even removed the option it once provided for taxpayers, including the elderly and disabled, to leave a message.”

The automated message instructs as follows:

“If you are disabled or elderly and require special accommodations for service, please email us at…"

But this leaves many taxpayers in the dark. As the report states:

"Demographic research data show only 57 percent of adults over age 65 use the Internet compared with 87 percent of all adults. According to 2010 Census data, only 41 percent of those with a non-severe disability use the Internet and only 22 percent of those with a severe disability age 65 and older use the Internet. For those without Internet access, the only viable ways to reach the IRS are by phone, or in person."

Article

Well... How in the world do expect them to make any extra money on penalties and interest if they make it too easy??? Huh? Have you thought of that?

"The IRS does not answer the phone at local offices and has even removed the option it once provided for taxpayers, including the elderly and disabled, to leave a message.”

I would I love to get a hold of those message recordings, lol. They would be pure comedy gold.

Hello, you've reached the IRS please leave your name along with a brief description of your problem after the tone.

a reply to: xuenchen

That is the most unreasonable thing I have ever read.

It is the taxpayers responsibility to pay taxes, but it is the IRSs job to be available at all times so that people have access to the information necessary, to ensure that they pay the right amount, at the right time, to avoid penalties and fines and so on.

What a shameful mess. As for asking people to email in, asking the elderly, the infirm, the disabled to be able to operate a computer in all cases, and own one too, not to mention get some sort of internet provision package, is an outrage, especially since, this being the IRS, one can expect them to loose any email they would prefer not to acknowledge or respond to!

Didn't Obama just hire 9,000 more IRS employees? Our are they just being used for Obamacare?

originally posted by: mugger
Didn't Obama just hire 9,000 more IRS employees? Our are they just being used for Obamacare?

They're too busy targeting Republicans to answer the phone.

a reply to: xuenchen I am lucky to have never needed to ask the IRS a question. I am 64 yrs old and have for all the years I have done tax returns never needed to ask a question. So if the IRS shut down a phone line it is no big deal to me. I know there maybe others that have to ask questions but they can get answers online or at a tax preparer office.

If I had tax questions the LAST place I'd look for help is the IRS. That's like asking Dahmer for recipes.

IRS Watchdog: Elderly and Disabled Taxpayers Not Allowed to Leave Messages

I wonder just how many of the emails sent to the IRS end up in their spam folder only to be deleted.

Ah yes another chapter in 'Government is us, and They're doing things 'right'.

Inflammatory and Misleading Title

"The IRS does not answer the phone at local offices and has even removed the option it once provided for taxpayers, including the elderly and disabled, to leave a message.”

No one is able to leave a message, not just the elderly and disabled.

a reply to: xuenchen

From the comments section:

If the government was put in charge of a desert, they'd manage to run out of sand.

Too Funny!!!!

would that email at the irs.gov site be able to take incoming text messages

because any smartphone that is data capable could text a problem to the .gov website
or am I wrong?

anyone without internet , or has no friends/nurses/orderlies with internet connection to a government e-mail address will have to hoof it to the nearest IRS.... that outcome does not sound true or accurate




its hard to find....

on page 125 of that PDF report, I read this: "Currently, the message on 3709 lines instructs the elderly or disabled to Email the IRS to make an appointment'
usually that appointment email is only made on that particular IRS navigation page, in a box which it asks you to detail the issue... ~no address ~ is there for you to access the IRS from your email account or Google or anything else...it is a closed access thingy


but further research leads me to think that irs.gov/Email is the address which had some 200+specific requests in 2013 from eldery/disabled requesting advocate help

I do not think One could use Google or Yahoo to the irs.cov/Email address & leave a email to the agency I think access is only through IRS help pages on the web

looks more & more like the old time military SNAFU to me

They actually answered their phones in the past?

I remember years ago....when you only had the phone to check your refund status....unless you called at non-peak times.....all you got was a busy signal....

FWIW, I thought public libraries and the Accounting Aid Society offered services to certain folks in need??