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Taxpayer Advocacy Panel
(TAP)
Want to improve
the IRS?¨SPEAK
UP
By Andrea Price, TAP member representing Ohio
Guest Column
The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is comprised of civic-minded
citizen volunteers from all walks of life representing each
state, D.C., Puerto Rico and an international member
(citizens living, working or doing business abroad). TAP is
a Federal Advisory Committee whose mission is to listen to
taxpayers, identify taxpayers’ issues and make suggestions
for improving the IRS service and customer satisfaction.
Everyone has something to say about taxes and the IRS.
Please take a moment to give us your suggestions for TAP to
consider by contacting one of the following:
TAP Ohio member:
tapohioandreaprice@gmail.com
Call Toll-free at:1-888-912-1227
Website:
www.improveirs.org
IRS Operations during COVID-19: Mission-critical functions
continue
On IRS.gov, The Internal Revenue Service reminds taxpayers
and tax professionals to use electronic options to support
social distancing and speed the processing of tax returns,
refunds and payments.
To protect the public and employees, and in compliance with
orders of local health authorities around the country,
certain IRS services such as live assistance on telephones,
processing paper tax returns and responding to
correspondence are extremely limited or suspended until
further notice. All Taxpayer Assistance Centers (local IRS
offices) remain temporarily closed as are many volunteer tax
preparation sites until further notice.
Although the tax filing deadline has been extended to July
15, 2020, from April 15, the IRS continues to process
electronic tax returns, issue direct deposit refunds and
accept electronic payments. As of April 3, the IRS received
over 97.4 million tax returns and issued over $213 billion
in refunds.
IRS operational status and alternatives
Paper Tax Returns: All
taxpayers should file electronically through their tax
preparer, tax software provider or IRS Free File if
possible. The IRS is not currently able to process
individual paper tax returns. If you already have filed via
paper but it has not yet been processed, do not file a
second tax return or write to the IRS to inquire about the
status of your return or your economic impact payment. Paper
returns will be processed once processing centers are able
to reopen. This year, more than 90% of taxpayers have filed
electronically.
Web Options: IRS.gov
remains the best source for tax law questions, checks on
refund status and tax payments. All IRS updates on the
Economic Impact Payments and other Covid-19 related issues
also will be posted immediately on IRS.gov/coronavirus.
Taxpayers can check their refund status at Where’s
My Refund? or
obtain a tax transcript at Get
Transcript Online.
Tax transcripts are only available online at this time.
Taxpayers also can make tax payments through Direct
Pay.
Taxes due must be paid by July 15. The Interactive
Tax Assistant can
help answer tax law questions. There currently are no email
options that will generate answers to questions posed by
taxpayers. Publication
5136, IRS Services Guide (PDF),
is a good source of information.
Telephone Options: Automated
phone lines: which handle most taxpayer calls - also will
remain available during this period. Some tax compliance
lines also remain available. IRS phone lines supported by
customer service representatives for both taxpayers and tax
professionals are not staffed at this time. To check on
regular tax refund status via automated phone, call
800-829-1954. (This line has no information on Economic
Impact Payments.)
Taxpayer correspondence: While
the IRS is receiving and storing mail, our mail processing
functions have been scaled back to comply with social
distancing recommendations. Currently, we have reduced
responses to paper correspondence.
Taxpayers who mail correspondence to the IRS during this
period should expect to wait longer than usual for a
response. Once normal operations resume it will take the IRS
time to work through any correspondence backlog.
Correspondence sent to IRS offices may be returned to the
taxpayer if that office is closed and no one is available to
accept them.
U.S. Residency Certification: The
Philadelphia Accounts Management Campus is currently closed.
Processing of the US Residency Certification Program is
temporarily suspended. Normal operations will resume as soon
as possible.
Taxpayer Protection Program: If
you received correspondence from the IRS asking if you filed
a suspicious tax return, you may use the
online Identity
Verification Service to
validate your identity. Because the IRS cannot take calls or
appointments right now, this is the only present option and
is only for taxpayers who receive IRS letters asking them to
authenticate their identity via online, telephone or
in-person and confirm whether they filed the tax return in
question.
Unable to reach the IRS
by phone for levy release request?
If you are unable to reach an IRS representative by phone, fax
your request to (855) 796-4524. The fax
should include your name, address and social security
numbers (for both spouses, if you filed jointly). Also,
include the name, address and fax number of the employer or
bank where the levy is being processed.
Note: This fax number is only used to address emergency levy
release requests. Due to current limited staffing, the IRS
will not respond to other issues sent to this fax line.
Taxpayer Advocate
Service Help
TAS
is open to virtually serve taxpayers who
find themselves in hardship situations or dealing with
IRS tax problems they’ve been
unable to resolve directly with the IRS. If you cannot get a
lien or levy released, after making contacts as instructed
above, go to the taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov
page
and call the local number listed for your state or area.
Currently, walk-ins are not available during this period.
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