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Millions of Taxpayers Call the IRS for Help. Two-Thirds Don't Reach Anyone

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Re: Millions of Taxpayers Call the IRS for Help. Two-Thirds Don't Reach Anyone

#61

Post by NeoTar »

kachapopopow wrote: post #44

Why does no one ever consider removing tax that doesn't make that much revenue? When I look at the tax code in the US half of it only applies to 0.0001% of people and the ones that affect the uber-rich have loopholes to avoid it. Why not just look at which tax is the most 'profitable' and remove the rest?

People do consider it.

But one of the issues with the tax system is that it’s not just a revenue generation mechanism. It is also used to encourage ‚good’ behaviours (e.g. saving for pensions) and discourage ‚bad’ (e.g. gambling).

So, whenever you make a change to the tax system, you are not just changing revenue generation, you are also adopting a political position. Are you „hurting frugal savers” by removing their benefits, or „supporting gamblers” by removing their taxes.

Re: Millions of Taxpayers Call the IRS for Help. Two-Thirds Don't Reach Anyone

#62

Post by giantg2 »

alwa wrote: post #41
giantg2 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hard to believe they actually get back to you and help. Any correspondence I've had with representatives is basically met with a form letter that doesn't even address the actual content of my concern.

Out of curiosity, was your correspondence in reference to navigating the federal government’s services, or were you corresponding to share your concerns about political matters? It seems like the congressional offices can be useful for bringing exceptional cases to the attention of the various federal bureaucracies, from taxes to passports to capital tours.

Both, on different occasions.

Re: Millions of Taxpayers Call the IRS for Help. Two-Thirds Don't Reach Anyone

#63

Post by idontwantthis »

mdorazio wrote: post #47

I’ll share my story. The IRS incorrectly sent me a fine for over a thousand dollars claiming I had filed late. I tried calling them 9 times on different days to dispute it. Within a minute of opening, end of day, middle of the day, didn’t matter. Not even a wait line, just “sorry try later.” I finally gave up and paid the damn thing then got a refund for the fine over a year later when I guess they figured out it was…

You should be happy that Biden and Democrats allocated $60 billion to the IRS then. It was $80 billion until Republicans extracted a $20 billion decrease in negotiations.

Re: Millions of Taxpayers Call the IRS for Help. Two-Thirds Don't Reach Anyone

#64

Post by doe_eyes »

jmclnx wrote: post #37
HillRat wrote: post #5

The IRS is a perennial budgeting football for Congress, even though it's one of the few agencies for whom increasing their budget creates positive net revenue for the federal government; its enforcement arm is down 30% in staffing since 2010, with predictably dismal results. As an anecdotal comparison, I had a fairly long-running issue years ago with the IRS over a minor problem (some expenditures got posted to one f…

I had friends and relatives who worked for the US IRS in the 80s, they all would say the IRS was the one place that budgets will never be cut, so the felt far more secure than I did in Tech. Little did they know the top 1% would get with one specific US Political Party to cut the IRS budget so thy can all cheat on their taxes. It is cheaper for them to hire lawyers than to pay their "fair share".

It's a narrative that's easy to believe in because audit rates are going down. But when you think about it... why should be they going up?

In the 1980s and before, the IRS literally had no way of knowing if you're telling the truth without auditing you. Everything was done on paper, cash was king. So the audits were indiscriminate and invasive, and needed a large army of employees to orchestrate.

Now, the IRS knows almost everything about your finances. They get electronic data from your employers, your bank, your brokerage. Most of commerce is settled electronically. Paypal and Venmo send them your info if you receive more than $500 in a year. There is nothing to be gained by randomly auditing the average family if the numbers on their report match what the IRS knows. The IRS can zero in on specific activities, such as people claiming unusual business deductions. But they no longer need to routinely audit most of us, and they don't need funding to that effect.

Re: Millions of Taxpayers Call the IRS for Help. Two-Thirds Don't Reach Anyone

#65

Post by renewiltord »

gumby wrote: post #27

The body says that some people are having trouble getting help, but if it were anyone but the IRS the headline could be good news: "millions of people call google for help and 2/3 are helped without even reaching a human" (Of course unless you're, say, an HN reader, there's no number you can call at Google for help at all)

I think I'll take the deal offered: I can choose not to pay the IRS and they can choose not to answer my calls. Just like Google.

Re: Millions of Taxpayers Call the IRS for Help. Two-Thirds Don't Reach Anyone

#66

Post by balderdash »

kachapopopow wrote: post #44

Why does no one ever consider removing tax that doesn't make that much revenue? When I look at the tax code in the US half of it only applies to 0.0001% of people and the ones that affect the uber-rich have loopholes to avoid it. Why not just look at which tax is the most 'profitable' and remove the rest?

I think many taxes are there to prevent behaviour/close loopholes e.g. the 10% penalty on early retirement account distributions or some of the pigovian taxes like the ones on plastic bags or taxes on tanning salons

Re: Millions of Taxpayers Call the IRS for Help. Two-Thirds Don't Reach Anyone

#67

Post by nickff »

mdorazio wrote: post #47

I’ll share my story. The IRS incorrectly sent me a fine for over a thousand dollars claiming I had filed late. I tried calling them 9 times on different days to dispute it. Within a minute of opening, end of day, middle of the day, didn’t matter. Not even a wait line, just “sorry try later.” I finally gave up and paid the damn thing then got a refund for the fine over a year later when I guess they figured out it was…

It seems like they had some sort of software/oversight issue, in addition to inadequate filer service. Why do you believe that giving them more money will cause them to improve? This seems like some sort of Stockholm syndrome.

Re: Millions of Taxpayers Call the IRS for Help. Two-Thirds Don't Reach Anyone

#68

Post by fragmede »

nickff wrote: post #67
mdorazio wrote: post #47

I’ll share my story. The IRS incorrectly sent me a fine for over a thousand dollars claiming I had filed late. I tried calling them 9 times on different days to dispute it. Within a minute of opening, end of day, middle of the day, didn’t matter. Not even a wait line, just “sorry try later.” I finally gave up and paid the damn thing then got a refund for the fine over a year later when I guess they figured out it was…

It seems like they had some sort of software/oversight issue, in addition to inadequate filer service. Why do you believe that giving them more money will cause them to improve? This seems like some sort of Stockholm syndrome.

Because scaling up linearly is relatively straight-forwards. If the problem is a shortage of people answering the phone, you hire more people to answer the phones. If you don't have the money to hire more people, you don't get more people, which means you don't have more people. When you don't have more people, you have a shortage of people answering the phones.

It's not rocket science.

I have no idea why paying them less (which, not-increasing is the same as, given increase in population and inflation) would make them do better. Are they a petulant child and we're trying to "teach them a lesson"?

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