The Internal Revenue Service is on a charm offensive as long as you don’t make too much money.
After a multi-year pandemic hiatus, the agency is resuming its debt collection efforts, reiterating its intention to go after high earners with the most debt. On Thursday, the IRS said it was sending letters to more than 25,000 people earning more than $1 million who had not filed a tax return since 2017.
Everyone else, the agency emphasizes, will benefit from the $80 billion the agency gained through the Inflation Reduction Act passed in 2022. The year before, the IRS named Ken Corbin its first chief taxpayer experience officer.
So what does he do all day? I went to the agency’s headquarters in Washington to find out, which was an experience in itself.
First, security guards held a wand to my shoes. After a few beeps they scanned my stockinged feet. After properly receiving the badge – with the words “Escort Only” in the largest font – I had a lesson with Mr. Corbin. What follows is a condensed version of our conversation, edited for clarity—and his advice for taxpayers like you and me.
So what does a philosophy student like you do in a place like this?
My wife of 25 years was studying philosophy and I wanted her to go out with me.
I actually studied chemistry and philosophy, and to finance my studies I worked nights for the IRS, where I started a dual study program at the age of 16. I remember applying to medical schools and talking to people about the cost. And my mother asked me why I wanted to be a doctor. I really like solving problems and helping people.
She wisely said to me, “Don’t you mentor people at the IRS?” At that point, I started thinking more about government and my job became a career.
Why was it necessary to create the Chief Experience Officer role?
We really needed to look at how people experience the IRS
One thing that I’m really excited about, and I think is a good level of experience, is a feature we call customer recall.
For me, this is a measure of success: we saved over 600,000 hours of waiting time this year alone.
The goal By July, this feature should be available to 95 percent of taxpayers who apply for help. Did you hit it?
We have exceeded 95 and are at 97 percent.
I’m very pleased to report that this year it takes us, on average, less than five minutes to answer the phone on our main telephone line. In fact, we’re currently at two minutes.
It’s only February.
It’s still early in the registration season.
Talk to me on April 12th.
I will do that.
Can the callback system roughly predict when someone will call me back later in the day?
I don’t think that’s the case at the moment and I think that’s an improvement I’d like to see.
When is the best time to call? Is it like trying to get concert tickets? in the old dayswhere you answered the phone exactly one second before the sale began?
Tuesday to Thursday. Mondays are really phone-intensive days. Either people file their taxes on the weekend or they can’t file their taxes, or some people may have received a little love letter from the IRS and don’t want to open it until the weekend when they can think about it a little.
The agency has a lot of new money at its disposal. You must be licking your fingers. What do you use it for that you hope people notice first?
We have hired around 5,000 customer service representatives. We have also hired around 800 personal helpers. We had what we called “Taxpayer Experience Days,” where we were open on Saturdays at our brick-and-mortar, walk-in centers. We do this once a month during registration season.
We are also able to keep our staff working longer hours in the centers, meaning we open earlier in the day and stay open later in the evening. That allows people who have 9-to-5 jobs to come in.
I hope people notice that you can talk to us now. Things have been tough for us during the pandemic. The economic impact payments have put us behind on our normal work.
Here’s something that’s on many people’s wish lists: being able to securely send messages about an issue with the same person replying, so you don’t have to start over every time.
We are already testing and learning about secure messaging with some of our business customers. It may not be the same person answering you, but I think we are really close to creating these trips.
If I had to predict when I would be able to do this, I would guess 2038. Would you like to put your hand to a Bible and make a promise sooner?
I wouldn’t lay my hand on a Bible, if only because so much of our ability to do things depends on the laws passed and the funding we have.
Heard. What do people do tactically wrong when trying to resolve problems with the IRS?
You get a letter or something from the IRS and you don’t open it. You won’t read it. I’m open with you – that’s the most important thing. I want you to open the letter. Let’s figure out how to solve the problem.
Couldn’t you solve the problem by writing something like “We might owe you money” on the front of the envelope?
This is where the laws get tricky. Believe it or not, when we put on the front of the envelope that we owe you money, we are actually revealing something about you that we are not allowed to reveal, for everyone to see.
Even if it says “could”?
This is a disclosure.
How do you do your own taxes?
As an experience officer, I want to know everything possible that is out there. I used software packages. I made paper.
Do you have a favorite print that you were able to take with you personally?
The standard trigger is probably my favorite. It’s one of the easier ones that people can relate to.
I recently spent time with young volunteers who work as tax advisors. They found that the more money you make, the more and better access you have to deductions in this country. That doesn’t seem fair, so her question was: What’s wrong with that?
That’s a great question. We at the IRS administer the tax laws. So this is really a question for Congress. But over the years, there are definitely benefits and things available to most taxpayers.
In a perfect world, some of these teenagers would become accountants at 26 and work for you at 32…
I love it already.
But if they are discouraged by the fairness of the system, how can you talk them out of being discouraged?
I would tell them that there are different ways to become part of the tax ecosystem and get involved. You can work for the IRS. There’s the Taxpayer Advocate Service, where you can work with the department and on the Hill to look at how tax administration works in different ways. You can come in and become an experience officer.
We all play a role, whether you are an actor or an employee.
Have you ever been audited?
I don’t think I can answer this question.
Is there a law? You can reveal something about yourself, right?
Yes, but I wouldn’t reveal that about myself. My wife would kill me.
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2024-03-03 10:02:33
www.nytimes.com
