Bipartisan Senate duo seeks to push IRS customer service forward

Senators Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Mark Warner, D-Va., want the IRS to make it easier for people to go online to get information about refunds, respond to IRS questions and more. The pair have introduced the Improving IRS Customer Service Act to push the agency to make more expansive improvements to such customer service needs.

Warner called the IRS “the source of massive headaches” in a statement, saying that he is “glad to introduce this legislation that will ease some of this frustration by increasing clear communication and making IRS resources more readily available.”

The bill — being touted by the duo now following its introduction last month — includes a requirement for the IRS to set up a dashboard with wait times for phone lines and tax return processing if the agency is dealing with delays.

The proposal also includes some items the IRS says it’s working on already. 

One section in the bill requires the IRS to give taxpayers individualized, specific information about tax return status, including whether the agency has received their return and when taxpayers should expect their refund.

The IRS has a tool dubbed Where’s My Refund already, and providing more details through the tool is listed as a priority in the IRS Strategic Operating Plan for how it will spend the $60 billion it has via the Inflation Reduction Act. The IRS says in that plan that it updated Where’s My Refund in 2024 to provide more details and saw a nearly 30% increase in its use.

The bill also calls for the IRS to make a website or application to let taxpayers view returns and IRS documents or notices online — and upload a response to the tax agency online if needed.

Improving IRS online accounts is a huge priority already as the agency looks to move into the digital age, IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel told Nextgov/FCW previously.

The IRS wants to enable individual taxpayers to do most interactions online, it says in its Strategic Operating Plan. Among the specific efforts: giving taxpayers the ability to view digital copies of most notices and letters, access digital forms and view last year’s tax return forms.

Efforts to improve business and tax professional accounts also feature in the plan. 

The bipartisan bill additionally includes a push for more callback technology for taxpayers when the IRS doesn’t pick up within ten minutes and a requirement that the IRS inform individuals facing economic hardship of collection alternatives. 

The IRS expanded callback options to nearly all phone lines during the 2024 filing season and called back over 4 million callers, it says in its Strategic Operating Plan. 

Continued IRS funding will be critical to maintaining the work started under the IRA, Werfel and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told reporters last month. 

The senators’ press release for the bill includes statements of support from the National Taxpayers Union and American Institute of CPAs.

“It should be easy for taxpayers to get the information they need from the IRS,” Cassidy said in a statement. “We can streamline the process and give Americans the transparency they expect.”