Independent watchdog says IRS still too slow to resolve identity theft cases

An independent watchdog within the IRS reported Wednesday that while taxpayer services have improved significantly, an agency The company is still extremely slow to resolve identity theft cases, with delays that are “unreasonable.”

Overall, the 2024 filing season went smoothly, according to the latest National Taxpayer Report to Congress, especially after the IRS received notice. Massive funding boost Set forth in the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act that President Joe Biden signed into law in August 2022.

Erin M. said: Collins, who works in human rights: “I don’t want to be overly dramatic, but over the last four years, I think we’ve progressed from a place of despair to a place of hope and optimism for the future of the agency and therefore for taxpayers.” Leads the organization charged with protecting taxpayer rights under Taxpayer Bill of Rights.

However, she said, “The IRS’s delay in resolving identity theft victim assistance cases is unconscionable.”

The report includes details of the federal tax collector’s performance in updating its technology, the speed with which it answers its phones, and the rate at which it sends refund checks, among other things.

The time it takes to resolve self-reported identity theft cases has worsened since the previous report in January, when it was taking nearly 19 months.

As of April, the IRS took more than 22 months to resolve these cases and had nearly 500,000 unresolved cases in its inventory, according to the report.

More harm could befall victims of identity theft, who are often dealing with other related issues, she said. For example, tax refunds can be delayed, contributing to financial insecurity.

“These delays pose a particular challenge for low-income taxpayers who may rely on these refunds to pay for their daily living expenses or expenses accumulated throughout the year, such as medical bills. Additionally, victims of identity theft may have difficulties obtaining certain types of loans.” , such as mortgages.

In response to the report in January, IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel told The Associated Press at the time that the taxpayer advocate “rightly points out that we have a lot of work to do, but he also rightly points out that this is not… Overnight trip.

The IRS originally received $80 billion in payments under the inflation control law, but that money is vulnerable to potential cuts.

Last few years Debt ceiling and budget cuts The deal between Republicans and the White House resulted in the elimination of $1.4 billion from the agency and a separate agreement to take $20 billion from the IRS over the next two years and divert that money to other non-defense programs.

The IRS’s extra money has been politically controversial since 2013 when it emerged that the agency during the Obama administration audited political groups that applied for tax-exempt status. A report by the Treasury Department’s internal watchdog concluded that both conservative and liberal groups were singled out for close review.

“I believe the IRS has turned a corner, thanks to the additional multi-year funding provided by the Inflation Reduction Act, particularly for taxpayer services and IT modernization,” Collins said.

“I’m optimistic that the taxpayer experience will continue to improve going forward and upward.”

—Fatima Hussein, Associated Press