The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a report, entitled "IRS Improved Performance in the 2004 Filing Season, But Better Data on the Quality of Some Services Are Needed (GAO-05-67)," summarizing the IRS's performance during the 2004 filing season in four areas: (1) processing paper and electronic returns; (2) telephone service; (3) walk-in service; and (4) website service.
Processing paper and electronic returns
- 67 million paper returns and 61 million electronic returns were processed.
- 100 million refunds were issued.
- 47 percent of taxpayers filed their returns electronically, up 16 percent over 2003 levels.
Note: Despite the increase, the IRS does not expect to meet its overall target of 80 percent electronically filed returns by 2007. Electronic filing is important to the IRS because the returns cost less to process, with over $2 saved for every return that is filed electronically.
Telephone service
The IRS handled 84 million telephone calls from taxpayers during the 2004 filing season, with an average wait of just under three minutes. The GAO estimated that 79.5 percent of callers received an accurate response to their question, a slight decline from the 81.3 percent rating for the 2003 season.
Walk-in service
More than 3.5 million taxpayers visited IRS walk-in sites, but this number was less than previous years. The GAO estimated that walk-ins declined over 8 percent between 2001 and 2004. At the same time, the number of taxpayers visiting volunteer walk-in sites increased 19 percent since 2001. The GAO noted that there was limited data about the quality of assistance received at walk-in sites.
Website service
The IRS website was popular with visitors during the 2004 filing season. Four hundred and sixty-four forms and publications were downloaded from the IRS website during 2004 and more than 34 million inquiries were made to check on the status of a tax refund or advance child tax credit.
