With tax season right around the corner, Americans are busily preparing to file their taxes. Many will have questions for the IRS, but few will receive answers, according to a report published by the National Taxpayer Advocate.
The study revealed that just 61% of Americans who attempted to speak with a customer service representative via telephone were able to speak with one. Twenty million calls went unanswered.
Those Americans who were actually able to get through to speak with a representative spent an average of 18 minutes on hold. In 2004, the wait time was just about 2.5 minutes.
Making matters worse, representatives are able to pick and choose what they will answer.
Frustrated with the lack of help from telephone representatives, Americans sent 8.4 million letters to the IRS. More than half of those letters still had not been answered by the end of 2013.
The report cites budget cuts as the reason for lack of correspondence and aid for confused taxpayers.
The IRS is set to become the chief enforcement arm of Obamacare, which has already been riddled with errors and glitches.
