Virus Payment Phone Line Received 25M Calls, TIGTA Says

A third-party contractor with the Internal Revenue Service tasked with answering phone calls about economic impact payments received nearly 25 million calls through November 2020, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said in a report released Monday.

Around 13.6 million of those calls made by Nov. 28 were dropped by taxpayers, while the remaining 11 million went to the IRS contractor, the watchdog said in the report. That contractor experienced staffing and technical issues, including a delay in employing bilingual staffers and subpar audio quality, according to the report.

The IRS will not provide tax return preparation services at taxpayer assistance centers for the 2021 filing season because most people get filing help elsewhere, the report also said.

The report reviewed the impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic on IRS customer service, which forced the agency to close many of its processing centers and shift to telework. 

--Editing by Robert Rudinger.

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