IRS TO LAUNCH CALL BACK OPTION:

IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel has said that during the next filing season the Service will give nearly all taxpayers a callback option, if the expected wait time to receive assistance exceeds 15 minutes.

“This means that for virtually all citizens calling into the IRS, the era of long waits, of listening to elevator music while waiting for an IRS customer service rep to pick up, is over,” Werfel said.

The IRS will also launch a conversational voice bot on the agency’s main phone line, to help direct calls to the right agents.

Werfel said the IRS plans “to make it rare” that call wait times will exceed 15 minutes on its primary call line. “But if it ever does, you can hang up, and we will call you back later,” he said.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the IRS plans to answer 85% of calls during next year’s tax filing season – a target it exceeded this year. The agency, she added, expects its average call wait time will be less than five minutes.