Beware of Answers From IRS "Help" Lines
Profit Ability Article Highlight

Auditors from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) posing as taxpayers visited 34 different IRS Taxpayer Assistance Centers across the U.S., posing a series of questions that a typical taxpayer could ask. Though the Taxpayer Assistance Centers only provided correct answers to 72% of the questions, this actually was quite a marked improvement from the previous year's audit, and closer to the 80% goal set by the IRS. Additionally, the auditors found, with 120 questions asked, Taxpayer Assistance personnel:

• Answered 20% of the questions incorrectly
• Referred the auditor to IRS publications and generally advised the auditor to do his or her own research to find the answer to 3% of the questions
• Denied service to the auditor for 2% of the questions
• Correctly offered to prepare a written referral or call the IRS toll-free telephone line for 3% of the questions

Additionally, it is worth noting that the auditors observed that the Taxpayer Assistance staff was professional and courteous to the TIGTA auditors in 61 of the 65 visits. The IRS did not release target numbers for courteousness.