>

“They absolutely have everything already”
Maybe if all you’re filing is a 1040EZ.
FINALLY!
I have been trying to get confirmation from the IRS that an outstanding tax bill was fully paid for 2 year now.  For Two Years I have been receiving angry letters saying that I still owed more than $1,000, even though I have receipts showing it was fully paid.  And for two years I have not been able to get a human on the phone to get this resolved. >

Did you send them a fax? Because oddly enough they told me that was the best way to work with them. >

Because they have not gotten funding to update their systems since the 80s due to GOP pushed defunding. >

This stings so much because it's true, so many functions of our government have been gutted time and again. >

The problem of good governance is that people fail to appreciate it.
Thus they don't want to pay for it, because good governance is invisible. >

Sorry, it's not the people that failed, it is by design by those in control that are easily bought by billionaires and corporations. The system has been rigged to favor those that already have obscene amounts of money. >

Voters have agency. Voters have choices.
The system is not "rigged," its just lots of voters voted for Republicans in the 80s, 90s, 2000s, and 2010s.
What you are describing does not explain the anti tax sentiments in local politics. >

When I used the word rigged, I was not talking about elections. Please calm down before you pop a blood vessel in your eye. >

You are assuming too much and making this a personal attack.
I am pretty calm. I mean all I am doing is making empirical descriptive statements. It doesn't involve too much emotion. >

I will add this. Thomas Jefferson (hypocrisy aside) did have a pretty poignant quote about the democracy he was helping to establish. He said that a well informed citizenry is a pre-requisite for democracy. 
Do you agree that democracy only works when the public is well informed about who and what they're voting for and what the consequences will be?
If you don't agree ignore this next question. But if you believe that's a requirement do you think that the public is informed enough about who and what they're voting for? I would argue that they're not. I would also argue that is due to the complicated nature of the system and how it works, combined with poor education, and a media that does not prioritize informing the public but instead prioritizes information that will get the most views/clicks (aka money). >

As an IRS employee can we please have our technology updated?! It is brutal here!!! It’s slow and outdated and totally brings down efficiency. I think Congress needs to interview some actual on the ground IRS employees because they clearly have no idea how tough it makes our jobs. Screw the 87000 agents we need better tech for the ones already here!! >

I just want to be able to get ahold of a person to be able to communicate what I owe and to set up a payment plan. I know there's an online system, but it's somewhat confusing. Somebody like my very elderly grandmother would never figure it out. It took me weeks. That could have been less than a twenty minute phone call. 
I know it's not your fault as an employee. The entire system needs an overhaul. I often wonder how many people don't pay properly, not out of malice or cheating, but due to the difficulty of the entire thing. >

Somebody posted here on Reddit this “cheat code” to moving through the automated system to guarantee getting through and it worked for me last year in February. Got through in 10 m. I’ll try to dig and see if I still have the screenshot >

Saving comment to follow updates. >

Same… I’m just trying to help my brother get his refund >

There are many of us who still have not received last year's refund. >

Yep mine still says it's delayed longer than usual. Like yeah 11 months is quite the delay. >

At what point do you just give up and send the IRS to collections? >

That's the fun part... You can't! >

If our taxes were taken automatically, they wouldnt need either. >

Listen here, this is your right as an American, untrained in personal finance and tax law, to guess through a third party filing system every year. Thanks Intuit and HR Block! So I feel so free now. >

Just use one of the free services.
TurboTax and H&R Block are there for people that have more complicated tax situations.
Use the IRS website or for a cheap but not free option, freetaxusa >

I do but you shouldn’t have to. Corporate lobbyists have made the system we have today. >

Unless you have a complicated return, which the vast majority do not, then you can do your taxes entirely yourself, for free, in under an hour with basic elementary school arithmetic. 
The IRS provides all the forms for free, and most of the time with a decent PDF program it will even do the math for you. >

You certainly can. But you shouldn’t have to. >


Before you call, make sure you have all of the information that you need.
- Social Security cards and birth dates for those who were on the return you are calling about.
- An Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) letter if you don’t have a Social Security number (SSN)
- Filing status – Single, Head of Household, Married Filing Joint or Married Filing Separate
- Your prior-year tax return. We may need to verify your identity before answering certain questions
- A copy of the tax return you’re calling about
- Any letters or notices we sent you
The IRS telephone number is 1-800-829-1040, and they are available from 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. Monday thru Friday. The best time to call is early in the morning.
The first question the automated system will ask you is to choose your language.
Once you’ve set your language, do NOT choose Option 1 (regarding refund info). Choose option 2 for “Personal Income Tax” instead.
Next, press 1 for “form, tax history, or payment”.
Next, press 3 “for all other questions.”
Next, press 2 “for all other questions.”
When the system asks you to enter your SSN or EIN to access your account information, do NOT enter anything.
After it asks twice, you will be prompted with another menu.
Press 2 for personal or individual tax questions.
Finally, press 4 for all other inquiries. The system should then transfer you to an agent. >

Wow only 17 steps before you are able to talk to a human & most who call won’t ever know this so it will be either 3x this amount of steps w/10x aggregation, or never even speak to a representative after they give up.  Not bad IRS, not bad. >

The American way 🫡 >

Please just do them for us like every other country >

Blame tax lobbyists: Intuit is one of the worst. >


Blame tax lobbyists: Inuit is one of the worst.

Damn Eskimos >

Such cold people >

I own a small business and spend a huge amount of time going back and forth with letters from the IRS. Seems like every year they try and tell me something wasn't paid or I didn't pay enough and they've never been right. They need more employees, more training and updated processes. >

Audit the fucking rich tho >

No, the audit coverage for the highest earners has been declining because the IRS has decided not to target them.
Literally every other fucking excuse you can type is exactly that:  An excuse. >

Why would the IRS still disproportionately audit the rich if they didn't want to target them? Why would they allocate more time and agency resources to those audits if they didn't want to be thorough? If they wanted to ignore the rich, they would audit them at a rate comparable to the rest of the population and devote those resources to other areas. It's notable that they haven't done that and have been saying for quite a while that they cannot audit the rich as much as they have historically because their resources are limited. 
Where have you heard that the IRS has decided not to target the rich? I'd love to see it, because they are pretty open about how they disproportionately audit the rich and would audit them even more if given the resources. >

They don't though - they disproportionally target the poor.
This is well documented for years. >

Ah yes, the customer service that's impossible to get ahold of. Great suggestion. >

Why can't our employers just file the taxes for us like it's done in the UK? Ugh >

Because the tax code in the us is not simplified.  
There are too many factors about each individual taxpayer and many are frankly none of the employers business.  (How much mortgage interest they pay, medical bills above 7.75% of their income or whatever that percentage is, retirement account contributions, spouse income is a factor—one spouses tax paid throughout the year may offset a shortfall elsewhere such as taxes owed on a side hustle the employer knows nothing about, or alimony received/paid, etc)
Edit:  please only downvote if you’re perfectly ok with your employee knowing every personal detail of your life so that they can file your taxes for you “like they do in the UK” lol.    I am self employed, but if I worked for someone else…I personally would not be. >

Uhhhh ok but doesn't the government also have this information? Why not just have them take care of it, and send you a bill for the difference? >

They absolutely have everything already. Every financial institution has to report the same information they send you around tax time to the government. This would be enough to do the taxes for the VAST majority of the public automatically. Then if you don't agree with the governments assessment you send in the information that supports your case and they look at that to figure out if they were wrong or you were wrong. If you agree with them you pay it and move on with life.