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My mother died. Then I spent 8 hours on hold with the IRS
USA Today • • business
Key Points:
- The IRS's customer service has significantly declined, with average hold times during this tax season reaching 14 minutes, and some departments experiencing waits as long as 45 minutes.
- Of the 48 million calls made to the IRS during tax season, only about 21% were answered by agents, leaving 79% of calls unanswered due to high volume and long wait times.
- Personal experiences reveal repeated difficulties in reaching IRS agents, including long hold times (up to nearly two hours), inconsistent advice from different agents, and frequent automated messages advising callers to try again later.
- The IRS system often disconnects calls without service ("courtesy disconnects"), contributing to taxpayer frustration; independent tests showed average wait times of 30 minutes or more on several IRS phone lines.
- To improve chances of reaching the IRS, taxpayers are advised to call late in the tax season, later in the week, and early in the day when wait times tend to be shorter.
