TAX SEASON

What “Priority Service”? Only 61 percent of practitioner calls get through.

By CPA Trendlines Research

The Internal Revenue Service reports significant improvements in its phone service, but the gains mask critical shortfalls in other high-demand lines, frustrating taxpayers and practitioners alike.

MORE IRS | Brace Yourself: IRS 25% Staff Cuts Mean Big Trouble for Tax Pros and Clients | What to Watch in the One Big Beautiful Bill |IRS’s Big Annual Report: Already Out of Date as Agency Grapples with Chaos and Cuts | Busy Season Barometer Stats: Who’s Responding and How They’re Doing | Tax Season Faceplant: Accountants Overrun by Late Chaos

Despite improvements in certain areas, such as the Accounts Management lines achieving an 87 percent Level of Service with average wait times dropping to 3 minutes, other critical lines experienced significantly lower service levels. For instance, the Identity Theft line had an LOS of just 29 percent, and the Installment Agreement/Balance Due line stood at 35 percent.

However, performance plummets for other phone lines. The Level of Service on the Identity Theft line was just 29 percent, and on the Installment Agreement/Balance Due line, it was 35 percent.

The Practitioner Priority Service line, heavily used by professionals, managed just 61 percent, well below the standard for acceptable support.

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2025 season leaves 8.2 million unprocessed returns and a backlog of 750,000 correspondence cases.

By CPA Trendlines Research

Despite modernization efforts, the IRS is drowning in paper, which the National Taxpayer Advocate calls the agency’s “kryptonite.”

MORE Tax | Brace Yourself: IRS 25% Staff Cuts Mean Big Trouble for Tax Pros and Clients | What to Watch in the One Big Beautiful Bill  | IRS’s Big Annual Report: Already Out of Date as Agency Grapples with Chaos and Cuts | Busy Season Barometer Stats: Who’s Responding and How They’re Doing | Accountants Reporting a Pretty Good Year | Tax Season Faceplant: Accountants Overrun by Late Chaos

During the 2025 filing season, the IRS scanned fewer than 1 percent of paper-filed Forms 1040, falling drastically short of its Paperless Processing Initiative goals. This continuing reliance on paper adds months to the processing cycle. In addition to return delays, it clogs the system for identity theft resolution, amended returns, and refund claims, each requiring manual review. For tax professionals, the paper problem means longer timelines, more uncertainty, and higher support costs.

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Get ready for more unhappy clients and tougher conversations.

By CPA Trendlines Research

The Internal Revenue Service is taking an average of 20 months to resolve identity theft cases, leaving hundreds of thousands of taxpayers in financial limbo, disproportionately harming low-income households and straining the resources of CPA firms and tax professionals.

MORE Tax | Brace Yourself: IRS 25% Staff Cuts Mean Big Trouble for Tax Pros and Clients | What to Watch in the One Big Beautiful Bill  | IRS’s Big Annual Report: Already Out of Date as Agency Grapples with Chaos and Cuts | Busy Season Barometer Stats: Who’s Responding and How They’re Doing | Accountants Reporting a Pretty Good Year | Tax Season Faceplant: Accountants Overrun by Late Chaos

For tax professionals, the stakes are high and the immediate need is clear: Set client expectations, document communication with the IRS, and explore hardship cases that might qualify for expedited handling. At the policy level, the delays are fueling calls for funding, automation, and clearer transparency metrics from the IRS.

“Victims entitled to refunds are waiting nearly two years to receive them,” Collins says. “These delays disproportionately affect vulnerable populations dependent on their refunds to meet basic living expenses.”

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