Tax season kicks off
with IRS short on staff
Washington Examiner,
by
Jay Heflin
Original Article
Posted By: Pluperfect,
2/3/2020 4:37:26 AM
Tax season kicked off Monday, and the biggest question on most taxpayers’ minds is how quickly they will get their refunds. Receiving a refund can normally take up to six weeks, but staffing issues at the agency might make that turnaround time much longer.
Customer service is a big part of making tax seasons successful, and the Internal Revenue Service is one of the lowest-scoring agencies in that area, according to the Taxpayer Advocate Service annual report to Congress for 2019.
Budget cuts are a contributing factor to the IRS’s poor customer service — it's harder to garner more hires with less money. Agency head count has fallen by 20%
Reply 1 - Posted by:
KatieJo 2/3/2020 4:54:24 AM (No. 305634)
Right. They're short on staff, they need more money and government employees. Lame excuses to justify slow service. I have an idea, how about if the tax code wasn't nearly 75000 pages long, think maybe that would speed things up a bit? It was about 400 pages in the early 1900's. And remember slaves, ignorance of the law is no excuse. Yet, if you can get through to the IRS for help, chances are they will give you the wrong answer. Read Mark Steyn's thoughts on the relationship between the revenue collectors in America vs other countries, clue: the "land of the free" is very heavy handed.
26 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
DaBigGuy 2/3/2020 5:30:17 AM (No. 305636)
The tax code isn't the problem, since no one has ever read it. The IRS has used the staffing excuse for decades, laughable since stories surfaced years ago that they spent about half of every day wasting time on the Internet reviewing their portfolios and porn sites. That and stories of billions of missing dollars, tens of thousands spent on videos for vacation seminars. Now is simply their preemptive annual excuse making for habitually poor performance, to get more money from Congress. They need to work with what they have, like everyone else.
15 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
John C 2/3/2020 5:49:59 AM (No. 305641)
How about transferring the NSA team from the WH to the IRS.
9 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
judy 2/3/2020 6:11:59 AM (No. 305648)
They come with this every year when it's time for tax refunds.
15 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
BeatleJeff 2/3/2020 6:24:36 AM (No. 305657)
I already got my refund so I could care less about their staffing issues.
4 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
Petronius 2/3/2020 7:09:50 AM (No. 305690)
If they would just do their appointed jobs rather than chasing after Americans for their political views, they would have plenty of time, money and staff to do their work.
15 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
Strike3 2/3/2020 7:35:55 AM (No. 305704)
No sympathy here. Whether government employees are IRS workers, school teachers, FBI or whatever, they always need more money and people to do the job right. A computer could easily take over for most of them. Suck it up and get to work you bunch of glorified accountants.
11 people like this.
If I ever get any refund over $100 it is poor planning on my part.
If you are using the IRS as a forced savings plan, you are an idiot.
Change your W-4.
11 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
Lawsy0 2/3/2020 7:59:11 AM (No. 305733)
If you like your job, you can keep your job. If you actually do your job, you are probably a temporary seasonal federal employee
7 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
chumley 2/3/2020 8:04:27 AM (No. 305737)
Darn it. The mob doesn't have enough enforcers to go around and get their protection payments, so people will just have to send it in. They'll come around and break your legs as time permits.
4 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
anniebc 2/3/2020 8:19:40 AM (No. 305765)
In my opinion they could use another 20% reduction. Each month until they no longer exist. We need a better tax system anyways. What happened to that post card thing? And, what about going back to US writing checks for our tax pillage, rape, and burdens at the end of the year?
9 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
fayebeck 2/3/2020 8:38:10 AM (No. 305791)
#1 I think Paul Ryan the Worthless took the postcard thing with him. 20 percent less "workers" just mean each "worker" would have to work at least 15 hours a week.
6 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
Dodge Boy 2/3/2020 8:50:56 AM (No. 305813)
And thankfully the IRS is free of Koskinen and Lerner both of whom should have been imprisoned.
12 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
TXknitter 2/3/2020 9:32:47 AM (No. 305840)
Well welcome to the regular work world. Working with short staff is normal for physicians and nurses. We hear this whine
from the IRS every single year. They are well-paid. Deal with it.
7 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
Dr. Constant 2/3/2020 9:49:02 AM (No. 305851)
The admonition from Ayn Rand applies here: Governments cannot rule honest men. To rule governments must make everyone a criminal. A 75,000-page tax code means that EVERYONE has violated the tax code. That means the IRS can seize anyone's assets at any time. The purpose of the overly complex tax code is to make you fear the government.
9 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
LadyVet 2/3/2020 9:53:13 AM (No. 305859)
Blame Democrats and their impeachment hysteria. Congress did not do their jobs on time, passing tax legislation on December 20, 2019. IRS had to make last minute changes to their tax system and delay processing certain types of returns. So basically, the IRS had to change their system to get ready for new tax year. Then they had to change it again when the foot-dragging nursing home patients who are in Congress finally got around to doing their jobs. What do they care how much it cost the taxpayes??
3 people like this.
Why isn't Lois Lerner in federal prison?
IRS is short of staff? IRS staff should be cut to zero.
6 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
DVC 2/3/2020 10:42:11 AM (No. 305895)
Hmm. We pay quarterly and calculate it to have the minimum possible refund, preferring to keep our own money in our own bank and an investment accounts.
I have never really understood the foolish plan of having the government collect your "savings" and pay you no interest on it for the year, and how you can then be joyous at getting your own money back.....just totally delusional. But, apparently, many are so totally irresponsible that their arranging for the government to take the money out of their hands is the only possible savings plan that will work.
5 people like this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
bhkat 2/3/2020 11:13:10 AM (No. 305917)
Excellent
3 people like this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
hershey 2/3/2020 11:16:30 AM (No. 305921)
They should take some of the personnel Obammienation used to pick on conservative businesses and people and put them back to work sorting incoming paperwork...gotta tell you though, I did one season in an IRS office checking incoming returns...it was demoralizing and I felt like a cow in a herd in a huge barn...demeaning work...
2 people like this.
Reply 21 - Posted by:
hershey 2/3/2020 11:18:24 AM (No. 305923)
Ooopsie, sorry for the second post...but they wouldn't need so many workers if the tax code wasn't so large and full of 'fixer' facts to empower the elite and big money..how about a new tax form.... What you earned x 10% = what you owe...nice and simple, no room for tax dodgers, no need for thousands of employees....
4 people like this.
Reply 22 - Posted by:
globalwarmer 2/3/2020 12:49:19 PM (No. 306000)
Stop the social engineering and just adopt a flat-tax. The savings in the number of government employees alone would be worth it.
4 people like this.
Reply 23 - Posted by:
Foghorn 2/3/2020 3:09:38 PM (No. 306086)
I don't believe this article. Obama hired 16,000 people to check Obamacare to ensure people are buying insurance and to fine those that were not. Where are those people now?
1 person likes this.
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