TAX

Could the IRS Do Better with the Phones?

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Measurements need to be refined.

By CPA Trendlines Research

The IRS has made big improvements in answering phones, but the service still leaves a lot to be desired … more than the IRS measures or admits.

Before we get into the gripe, let’s look at the improvements.

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Over the past two years, the IRS has hired more than 20,000 new Taxpayer Services employees. Many of them are the customer service representatives (CSRs) who answer the phones. And many CSRs were moved from other duties to do phone duty on what’s called Accounts Management (AM) lines.

And it worked … sort of.
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Picking Up the Phone Helps Retain Tax Clients

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Businessman talking on phone in the office

Personal touches matter.

By Ed Mendlowitz
Tax Season Opportunity Guide

Clients are not numbers on a list that needs to be reduced. They are all individuals and consider themselves very important people and want professionals who treat them accordingly.

MORE by Ed Mendlowitz
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It is attitudinal and accountants must adopt that mindset and transmit that through to their culture. So you need to know when it’s essential to pick up the phone.
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Tax Refunds Up 18% Early On

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Most other tallies are down by around 7 percent.

By Beth Bellor

Once again, refunds are up and everything else is down in the world of individual income tax returns.

MORE: First Tax Filing Reports Are In
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At the close of the second week of tax season, the IRS had received 23.6 million returns, down 7.7 percent from the same week in 2024. It had processed 23.5 million returns, down 7.6 percent, which includes returns received in 2024 or 2025 and processed this year.
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You Don’t Have Time for Every Client Question

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businessman with eyes closed, head on hands

Not this time of year.

By Frank Stitely
The Relentless CPA

A well-known practice management expert, whom I greatly respect, advises CPAs to never tell clients that you don’t have time for them. I disagree with the never part. You know how it starts. On March 25th, the call comes in.

“I know you’re busy but …”

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A request follows that could most certainly wait until after tax season. You are hip deep reviewing all the personal tax returns that got stuck in process while you climbed out of the March 15th corporate tax ditch.

“I need to know if I’m paying unemployment taxes to the right states. I think I should be paying taxes to the People’s Republic of California, but I’m not. I’ve been paying unemployment taxes to Uzbekistan instead.”
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