Need tax help? Don't ask the IRS.
Some highlights of a recent AP article about IRS phone traffic:
- 3 in 10 calls to the IRS receive a busy signal.
- The agency's goal is to connect 71 percent of callers to a real person, down from a recent high of 87 percent in 2004.
- In 2008, the IRS received 151 million calls on its toll-free line -- up from 67 million the year before. Many of the calls were about tax rebate checks issued by the IRS as part of an economic stimulus package passed by Congress. That year, only 53 percent of callers to the toll-free line reached a person.
- In 2009, the agency received 94 million calls -- some were about the previous year's rebate checks while others were about a new round of tax breaks approved in February to help revive the nation's ailing economy. In 2009, 70 percent of callers reached a person.
And here's my favorite:
- "The IRS is committed to providing the best possible service to every taxpayer," said IRS spokeswoman Michelle Eldridge.
You can't really blame the IRS, though; they're just doing the best job they can trying to administer the bloated mockery that is our Federal income tax system.
