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    U.S. Department of the Treasury

Service provider

Internal Revenue Service

Description

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) processed more than 240.2 million Federal tax returns and supplemental documents in 2020, collecting close to $3.5 trillion in gross taxes and issuing almost 122 million refunds.


Designated Services

Previously-reported Services


Service

Filing an individual tax return

Description

The tax filing journey begins each year with the taxpayer receiving and gathering their tax information. There are several ways a taxpayer can file their return, self-prepared using tax preparation software or IRS Free File, using a paid preparer, filling out a form and mailing it to the IRS, or visiting one of our thousands of VITA/TCE sites, where a volunteer tax preparer can help prepare their return. In the pre and post filing stages, taxpayers may seek answers to tax law questions or require tax account information. IRS research indicates that most taxpayers prefer interacting with us through visiting IRS.gov or calling.

Why this service was designated

Each year, millions of Americans file individual tax returns to pay their taxes or receive a tax refund. In 2022, the IRS processed over 168 million individual returns, and issued over $359 Billion in refunds, with an average individual refund of approximately $3,252.

Quarterly data reported

Q3 2023

What we learned from this quarter's data:

Trust and Satisfaction scores for the toll-free line are up by 6%/7% percentage points respectively compared to the same period last year.

Employee helpfulness continues to score highest for our toll-free and in-person services.

IRS.gov positive response rates were consistent with the previous quarter (FY23 Q2), which matches expected seasonal variance. The highest rates of satisfaction were from those seeking tax forms, publications, or instructions and those seeking tools for tax professionals. The lowest satisfaction scores came from those seeking refund status and those seeking contact information.

The Online Account survey is currently offline during transition to new vendor.

Service details
Service provided: Accounts Management Toll-Free Telephone Service
Transaction point: After calling the IRS Toll-Free line for service over the phone.
Channel: phone
People served: 4681580
Surveys offered: 73502
Responses: 1560
Service provided: Automated Collection System Toll-Free Survey
Transaction point: After calling the IRS ACS Toll-Free line for service over the phone.
Channel: phone
People served: 2245552
Surveys offered: 81220
Responses: 1329
Service provided: Field Assistance Appointment Service
Transaction point: When calling to schedule an appointment for face-to-face service.
Channel: phone
People served: 616252
Surveys offered: 219845
Responses: 5287
Service provided: Field Assistance Appointment Service Follow-Up
Transaction point: Customers who take the initial Field Assistance Appointment Service survey can opt-in to participate in a follow-up survey approximately one month later.
Channel: computer
People served: 616252
Surveys offered: 219845
Responses: 146


Q2 2023

What we learned from this quarter's data:

Due to 5,000 new hires made possible by Inflation Reduction Act resources, IRS customer service representatives answered more than 6.5 million taxpayer calls this year, 2.4 million more calls with live assistance since the start of the year through April 7, compared to the same period in 2022. We cut phone wait times to four minutes, down from 27 minutes in Filing Season 2022 and achieved an 87% Level of Service with live assistance since the opening of the individual filing season. Trust and Satisfaction scores for the toll-free line are up by 5%/4% percentage points respectively compared to the same period last year.

Employee helpfulness continues to score highest for our toll-free and in-person services.

Overall IRS.gov positive response rates increased compared to the previous quarter (FY 2023 Q1) and similar to FY 2022 Q2 scores, showing that this is standard seasonal variance. The highest scores of agreement with A-11 statements were from those seeking tax forms and form information while some of the lowest satisfaction scores came from users seeking refund status information.

The Online Account survey is currently offline during transition to new vendor.

Service details
Service provided: Accounts Management Toll-Free Telephone Service
Transaction point: After calling the IRS Toll-Free line for service over the phone.
Channel: phone
People served: 5149949
Surveys offered: 66289
Responses: 1655
Service provided: Automated Collection System Toll-Free Survey
Transaction point: After calling the IRS ACS Toll-Free line for service over the phone.
Channel: phone
People served: 1957238
Surveys offered: 60331
Responses: 817
Service provided: Field Assistance Appointment Service
Transaction point: When calling to schedule an appointment for face-to-face service.
Channel: phone
People served: 692379
Surveys offered: 228145
Responses: 6381
Service provided: Field Assistance Appointment Service Follow-Up
Transaction point: Customers who take the initial Field Assistance Appointment Service survey can opt-in to participate in a follow-up survey approximately one month later.
Channel: computer
People served: 692379
Surveys offered: 228145
Responses: 123


Q1 2023

What we learned from this quarter's data:

The most common reasons customers call are: Refund Inquiry, IRS Office Location/Appointment, Balance Due/Payoff, Transcript/Record of Account, or to establish an Installment Agreement. Recognizing that our diverse customer base has varying service preferences, the IRS has focused on providing automated solutions for most of the common reasons taxpayers call.

Overall agreement rates for the Accounts Management toll-free and Appointment Lines remain relatively high, with employee helpfulness scoring highest.

The IRS.gov main site survey relaunched on November 14 with new a survey provider. The new version of the IRS.gov sitewide survey is offered to both desktop and mobile users and is offered in Spanish if the user’s browser is set to Spanish. Additionally, this survey now operates with stricter criteria, only offering a survey to a sampling of users who meet the following criteria - user has visited at least three pages, spent at least 60 seconds on the site, and spent at least 15 seconds on a singular page (which has to be the third page or later in their session). These changes in criteria significantly lowered the number of responses compared to the previous model and contributed to a higher percentage of disagreement with the ease and efficiency A-11 questions as the new criteria is more likely to select visitors spending longer on the site and/or a specific page.

The Online Account survey is currently offline during transition to new vendor.

Service details
Service provided: Accounts Management Toll-Free Telephone Service
Transaction point: After calling the IRS Toll-Free line for service over the phone.
Channel: phone
People served: 1802593
Surveys offered: 38491
Responses: 859
Service provided: Automated Collection System Toll-Free Survey
Transaction point: After calling the IRS ACS Toll-Free line for service over the phone.
Channel: phone
People served: 1820440
Surveys offered: 54612
Responses: 932
Service provided: Field Assistance Appointment Service
Transaction point: When calling to schedule an appointment for face-to-face service
Channel: phone
People served: 223919
Surveys offered: 70186
Responses: 2477
Service provided: Field Assistance Appointment Service Follow-Up
Transaction point: Customers who take the initial Field Assistance Appointment Service survey can opt-in to participate in a follow-up survey approximately one month later.
Channel: computer
People served: 223919
Surveys offered: 70186
Responses: 121


Q4 2022

What we learned from this quarter's data:

Pandemic related delays in tax return processing and distribution of tax refunds for some taxpayers continued to affect the taxpayer experience. The IRS is executing on an inventory “Get Healthy” plan to improve the experience for these taxpayers.

Fourth Quarter web surveys were paused on 8/31/2022 while administration responsibility transitioned to a new vendor. Data collection will resume in first quarter FY2023.

IRS.gov agreement rates with A-11 questions dropped in the fourth quarter. This is in line with previous years, where we observe a satisfaction drop post filing season as a larger proportion of site visitors have outstanding issues they are trying to address. Refund status was the most common reason for people to visit the IRS site during this quarter.

Online Account agreement rates were fairly consistent with the same time last year, with users looking to make an online payment as the most satisfied.

Overall agreement rates for the Accounts Management toll-free and Appointment Lines remain relatively high, consistent with the same time last year.

Service details
Service provided: Accounts Management Toll-Free Telephone Service
Transaction point: After calling the IRS Toll-Free line for service over the phone.
Channel: phone
People served: 1859422
Surveys offered: 53337
Responses: 1916
Service provided: Automated Collection System Toll-Free Survey
Transaction point: After calling the IRS ACS Toll-Free line for service over the phone.
Channel: phone
People served: 1668675
Surveys offered: 53790
Responses: 1218
Service provided: Field Assistance Appointment Service
Transaction point: When calling to schedule an appointment for face-to-face service.
Channel: phone
People served: 225015
Surveys offered: 73482
Responses: 3023
Service provided: Field Assistance Appointment Service Follow-Up
Transaction point: Customers who take the initial Field Assistance Appointment Service survey can opt-in to participate in a follow-up survey approximately one month later.
Channel: computer
People served: 225015
Surveys offered: 73482
Responses: 156


Q3 2022

What we learned from this quarter's data:

Pandemic related delays in tax return processing and distribution of tax refunds for some taxpayers continued to affect the taxpayer experience. The IRS is executing on an inventory “Get Healthy” plan to improve the experience for these taxpayers.

Agreement rates with A-11 questions dropped across all web surveys in the third quarter. This is in line with previous years as a larger proportion of site visitors after filing season have outstanding issues they are trying to address. Refund status was the most common reason for people to visit the website during this quarter.

Service details
Service provided: Accounts Management Toll-Free Telephone Service
Transaction point: After calling the IRS Toll-Free line for service over the phone.
Channel: phone
People served: 2530253
Surveys offered: 32307
Responses: 1087
Service provided: Automated Collection System Toll-Free Survey
Transaction point: After calling the IRS ACS Toll-Free line for service over the phone.
Channel: phone
People served: 2037345
Surveys offered: 59312
Responses: 1933
Service provided: Field Assistance Appointment Service
Transaction point: When calling to schedule an appointment for face-to-face service.
Channel: phone
People served: 297383
Surveys offered: 96029
Responses: 3611
Service provided: Field Assistance Appointment Service Follow-Up
Transaction point: Customers who take the initial Field Assistance Appointment Service survey can opt-in to participate in a follow-up survey approximately one month later.
Channel: mixed
People served: 297383
Surveys offered: 96029
Responses: 198


Q2 2022

What we learned from this quarter's data:

Pandemic related delays in tax return processing and distribution of tax refunds for some taxpayers continued to affect the taxpayer experience. The IRS is executing on an inventory “Get Healthy” plan to improve the experience for these taxpayers.

Service details
Service provided: Accounts Management Toll-Free Telephone Service
Transaction point: After calling the IRS Toll-Free line for service over the phone.
Channel: phone
People served: 2730462
Surveys offered: 13249
Responses: 770
Service provided: Automated Collection System Toll-Free Survey
Transaction point: After calling the IRS ACS Toll-Free line for service over the phone.
Channel: phone
People served: 1708158
Surveys offered: 43242
Responses: 1618
Service provided: Field Assistance Appointment Service
Transaction point: When calling to schedule an appointment for face-to-face service.
Channel: phone
People served: 330483
Surveys offered: 105291
Responses: 4152
Service provided: Field Assistance Appointment Service Follow-Up
Transaction point: Customers who take the initial Field Assistance Appointment Service survey can opt-in to participate in a follow-up survey approximately one month later.
Channel: computer
People served: 330483
Surveys offered: 105291
Responses: 261


Service

Managing an individual online account

Description

The five most common reasons taxpayers contact us are: Refund Inquiry, IRS Office Location/Appointment, Balance Due/Payoff, Transcript/Record of Account, or to establish an Installment Agreement. Recognizing that our diverse customer base has varying service preferences, the IRS has focused on providing automated solutions for most of the common reasons taxpayers contact us, increasing convenience and reducing cost to the IRS and taxpayers.

Online Account allows taxpayers to securely access their individual account information. Through their online account, taxpayers can view the amount they owe, a breakdown by tax year, and payment plan options. They may also get email notifications, view records, and approve and electronically sign Power of Attorney and Tax Information Authorization form from their tax professionals.

Our vision for the future is a centralized online account experience for individual and business taxpayers that allows them to view their personalized tax information and transact via self-service. We are also building on our vision for tax professionals to more efficiently establish and manage their authorization relationships online, access tax-related information, and represent their clients with the IRS.

Why this service was designated

Since its launch in 2016, there have been over 173 million IRS individual online account sessions (through 9/30/2022). Usage of Online Account continues to grow each year, and we expect continued growth as we add more features. In fiscal year (FY) 2022 alone we saw over 79 million sessions and over 19.8 million unique users. Those visitors generated over 6.25 million tax payments, 847,000 payment plans, and converted over 97,000 notices to digital-only format by going paperless, enabling these taxpayers to meet their tax obligations online via self-service.

Quarterly data reported

Q4 2022

What we learned from this quarter's data:

Pandemic related delays in tax return processing and distribution of tax refunds for some taxpayers continued to affect the taxpayer experience. The IRS is executing on an inventory “Get Healthy” plan to improve the experience for these taxpayers.

Fourth Quarter web surveys were paused on 8/31/2022 while administration responsibility transitioned to a new vendor. Data collection will resume in first quarter FY2023.

IRS.gov agreement rates with A-11 questions dropped in the fourth quarter. This is in line with previous years, where we observe a satisfaction drop post filing season as a larger proportion of site visitors have outstanding issues they are trying to address. Refund status was the most common reason for people to visit the IRS site during this quarter.

Online Account agreement rates were fairly consistent with the same time last year, with users looking to make an online payment as the most satisfied.

Overall agreement rates for the Accounts Management toll-free and Appointment Lines remain relatively high, consistent with the same time last year.

Service details
Service provided: IRS.gov Online Account
Transaction point: Random selection after successfully authenticating into the IRS Online Account application on a computer
Channel: computer
People served: 4109579
Surveys offered: 0
Responses: 23861


Q3 2022

What we learned from this quarter's data:

Pandemic related delays in tax return processing and distribution of tax refunds for some taxpayers continued to affect the taxpayer experience. The IRS is executing on an inventory “Get Healthy” plan to improve the experience for these taxpayers.

Agreement rates with A-11 questions dropped across all web surveys in the third quarter. This is in line with previous years as a larger proportion of site visitors after filing season have outstanding issues they are trying to address. Refund status was the most common reason for people to visit the website during this quarter.

Service details
Service provided: IRS.gov Online Account
Transaction point: Random selection after successfully authenticating into the IRS Online Account application on a computer
Channel: computer
People served: 11804784
Surveys offered: 4121192
Responses: 60174


Q2 2022

What we learned from this quarter's data:

Pandemic related delays in tax return processing and distribution of tax refunds for some taxpayers continued to affect the taxpayer experience. The IRS is executing on an inventory “Get Healthy” plan to improve the experience for these taxpayers.

Service details
Service provided: IRS.gov Online Account
Transaction point: Random selection after successfully authenticating into the IRS Online Account application on a computer
Channel: computer
People served: 12822973
Surveys offered: 2310713
Responses: 42874



Previously-reported Services

Prior to the first service designation exercise in 2022, HISPs were collecting data using methods unique to each agency, resulting in data that was not standardized. This previously-reported data was collected to increase visibility and awareness regarding customer experience through feedback data. Per A-11 guidance, service providers will collect feedback in a more standardized way.


Service   Previously-reported

Visiting IRS.gov

Description

IRS sends surveys to those who visit IRS.gov.

Quarterly data reported

Q3 2023

What we learned from this quarter's data:

Trust and Satisfaction scores for the toll-free line are up by 6%/7% percentage points respectively compared to the same period last year.

Employee helpfulness continues to score highest for our toll-free and in-person services.

IRS.gov positive response rates were consistent with the previous quarter (FY23 Q2), which matches expected seasonal variance. The highest rates of satisfaction were from those seeking tax forms, publications, or instructions and those seeking tools for tax professionals. The lowest satisfaction scores came from those seeking refund status and those seeking contact information.

The Online Account survey is currently offline during transition to new vendor.

Service details
Service provided: IRS.gov
Transaction point: Random selection after visiting any IRS.gov public facing page on a computer
Channel: computer
People served: 184858487
Surveys offered: 0
Responses: 6660


Q2 2023

What we learned from this quarter's data:

Due to 5,000 new hires made possible by Inflation Reduction Act resources, IRS customer service representatives answered more than 6.5 million taxpayer calls this year, 2.4 million more calls with live assistance since the start of the year through April 7, compared to the same period in 2022. We cut phone wait times to four minutes, down from 27 minutes in Filing Season 2022 and achieved an 87% Level of Service with live assistance since the opening of the individual filing season. Trust and Satisfaction scores for the toll-free line are up by 5%/4% percentage points respectively compared to the same period last year.

Employee helpfulness continues to score highest for our toll-free and in-person services.

Overall IRS.gov positive response rates increased compared to the previous quarter (FY 2023 Q1) and similar to FY 2022 Q2 scores, showing that this is standard seasonal variance. The highest scores of agreement with A-11 statements were from those seeking tax forms and form information while some of the lowest satisfaction scores came from users seeking refund status information.

The Online Account survey is currently offline during transition to new vendor.

Service details
Service provided: IRS.gov
Transaction point: Random selection after visiting any IRS.gov public facing page on a computer
Channel: computer
People served: 306357792
Surveys offered: 0
Responses: 7800


Q1 2023

What we learned from this quarter's data:

The most common reasons customers call are: Refund Inquiry, IRS Office Location/Appointment, Balance Due/Payoff, Transcript/Record of Account, or to establish an Installment Agreement. Recognizing that our diverse customer base has varying service preferences, the IRS has focused on providing automated solutions for most of the common reasons taxpayers call.

Overall agreement rates for the Accounts Management toll-free and Appointment Lines remain relatively high, with employee helpfulness scoring highest.

The IRS.gov main site survey relaunched on November 14 with new a survey provider. The new version of the IRS.gov sitewide survey is offered to both desktop and mobile users and is offered in Spanish if the user’s browser is set to Spanish. Additionally, this survey now operates with stricter criteria, only offering a survey to a sampling of users who meet the following criteria - user has visited at least three pages, spent at least 60 seconds on the site, and spent at least 15 seconds on a singular page (which has to be the third page or later in their session). These changes in criteria significantly lowered the number of responses compared to the previous model and contributed to a higher percentage of disagreement with the ease and efficiency A-11 questions as the new criteria is more likely to select visitors spending longer on the site and/or a specific page.

The Online Account survey is currently offline during transition to new vendor.

Service details
Service provided: IRS.gov
Transaction point: Random selection after visiting any IRS.gov public facing page on a computer
Channel: computer
People served: 50178933
Surveys offered:
Responses: 2277


Q4 2022

What we learned from this quarter's data:

Pandemic related delays in tax return processing and distribution of tax refunds for some taxpayers continued to affect the taxpayer experience. The IRS is executing on an inventory “Get Healthy” plan to improve the experience for these taxpayers.

Fourth Quarter web surveys were paused on 8/31/2022 while administration responsibility transitioned to a new vendor. Data collection will resume in first quarter FY2023.

IRS.gov agreement rates with A-11 questions dropped in the fourth quarter. This is in line with previous years, where we observe a satisfaction drop post filing season as a larger proportion of site visitors have outstanding issues they are trying to address. Refund status was the most common reason for people to visit the IRS site during this quarter.

Online Account agreement rates were fairly consistent with the same time last year, with users looking to make an online payment as the most satisfied.

Overall agreement rates for the Accounts Management toll-free and Appointment Lines remain relatively high, consistent with the same time last year.

Service details
Service provided: IRS.gov
Transaction point: Random selection after visiting any IRS.gov public facing page on a computer
Channel: computer
People served: 40098574
Surveys offered: 0
Responses: 11573


Q3 2022

What we learned from this quarter's data:

Pandemic related delays in tax return processing and distribution of tax refunds for some taxpayers continued to affect the taxpayer experience. The IRS is executing on an inventory “Get Healthy” plan to improve the experience for these taxpayers.

Agreement rates with A-11 questions dropped across all web surveys in the third quarter. This is in line with previous years as a larger proportion of site visitors after filing season have outstanding issues they are trying to address. Refund status was the most common reason for people to visit the website during this quarter.

Service details
Service provided: IRS.gov
Transaction point: Random selection after visiting any IRS.gov public facing page on a computer
Channel: computer
People served: 99907422
Surveys offered: 4076207
Responses: 31626


Q2 2022

What we learned from this quarter's data:

Pandemic related delays in tax return processing and distribution of tax refunds for some taxpayers continued to affect the taxpayer experience. The IRS is executing on an inventory “Get Healthy” plan to improve the experience for these taxpayers.

Service details
Service provided: IRS.gov
Transaction point: Random selection after visiting any IRS.gov PUP page on a computer. 50/50 split of being presented with main survey or beta survey
Channel: computer
People served: 133053594
Surveys offered: 4176295
Responses: 39740


Q1 2022

What we learned from this quarter's data:

Pandemic related delays in tax return processing and distribution of tax refunds for some taxpayers continued to affect the taxpayer experience. While the volume of these users has reduced since last quarter, they make up a larger percentage of online survey respondents than first quarter last year. In December, online experience scores improved as users began coming to the site more frequently to gather tax forms and instructions in preparation for the filing season.

Due to a contracting issue, first quarter data for the IRS toll-free Appointment Line and Appointment Line follow-up surveys are not available.

Service details
Service provided: Accounts Management Toll-Free Telephone Service
Transaction point: After calling the IRS Toll-Free line for service over the phone.
Channel: phone
People served: 3420410
Surveys offered: 16915
Responses: 1015
Service provided: Automated Collection System Toll-Free Survey
Transaction point: After calling the IRS ACS Toll-Free line for service over the phone.
Channel: phone
People served: 1227785
Surveys offered: 31266
Responses: 1483
Service provided: Field Assistance Appointment Service
Transaction point: When calling to schedule an appointment for face-to-face service.
Channel: phone
People served: 0
Surveys offered: 0
Responses: 0
Service provided: Field Assistance Appointment Service Follow-Up
Transaction point: Customers who take the initial Field Assistance Appointment Service survey can opt-in to participate in a follow-up survey approximately one month later.
Channel: mixed
People served: 0
Surveys offered: 0
Responses: 0
Service provided: IRS.gov
Transaction point: Random selection after visiting any IRS.gov PUP page on a computer. 50/50 split of being presented with main survey or beta survey
Channel: computer
People served: 64054728
Surveys offered: 1589798
Responses: 20157
Service provided: IRS.gov Online Account
Transaction point: Random selection after successfully authenticating into the IRS Online Account application on a computer
Channel: computer
People served: 4612592
Surveys offered: 690227
Responses: 29231


Q4 2021

What we learned from this quarter's data:

Pandemic related tax processing delays and inquiries related to Economic Impact Payments and the Advance Child Tax Credit continued to drive significantly higher than normal volumes on our online and toll-free service channels and influence survey scores.

Service details
Service provided: Accounts Management Toll-Free Telephone Service
Transaction point: After calling the IRS Toll-Free line for service over the phone.
Channel: automated_phone
People served: 3403769
Surveys offered: 20887
Responses: 1025
Service provided: Automated Collection System Toll-Free Survey
Transaction point: After calling the IRS ACS Toll-Free line for service over the phone.
Channel: phone
People served: 1703459
Surveys offered: 39179
Responses: 1788
Service provided: Field Assistance Appointment Service
Transaction point: When calling to schedule an appointment for face-to-face service.
Channel: phone
People served: 404776
Surveys offered: 126129
Responses: 4777
Service provided: Field Assistance Appointment Service Follow-Up
Transaction point: Customers who take the initial Field Assistance Appointment Service survey can opt-in to participate in a follow-up survey approximately one month later.
Channel: mixed
People served: 404776
Surveys offered: 1849
Responses: 529
Service provided: IRS.gov
Transaction point: Random selection after visiting any IRS.gov PUP page on a computer. 50/50 split of being presented with main survey or beta survey
Channel: computer
People served: 76985391
Surveys offered: 3079065
Responses: 34473
Service provided: IRS.gov Online Account
Transaction point: Random selection after successfully authenticating into the IRS Online Account application on a computer
Channel: computer
People served: 6159044
Surveys offered: 1462839
Responses: 41159


Q3 2021

What we learned from this quarter's data:

Pandemic related tax processing delays and inquiries related to Economic Impact Payments and the Advance Child Tax Credit continued to drive significantly higher than normal volumes on our online and toll-free service channels.

Due to a contracting issue, third quarter data for the IRS toll-free survey is not available.

The IRS recently modified the Automated Collection System survey to align with Section 280 standards, adding a compliance channel to the existing Section 280 survey quarterly reporting.

Service details
Service provided: Accounts Management Toll-Free Telephone Service
Transaction point: After calling the IRS Toll-Free line for service over the phone.
Channel: automated_phone
People served: 0
Surveys offered: 0
Responses: 0
Service provided: Automated Collection System Toll-Free Survey
Transaction point: After calling the IRS ACS Toll-Free line for service over the phone.
Channel: phone
People served: 1826067
Surveys offered: 45349
Responses: 940
Service provided: Field Assistance Appointment Service
Transaction point: When calling to schedule an appointment for face-to-face service.
Channel: phone
People served: 500606
Surveys offered: 130444
Responses: 5210
Service provided: Field Assistance Appointment Service Follow-Up
Transaction point: Customers who take the initial Field Assistance Appointment Service survey can opt-in to participate in a follow-up survey approximately one month later.
Channel: automated_phone
People served: 500606
Surveys offered: 1680
Responses: 394
Service provided: IRS.gov
Transaction point: Random selection after visiting any IRS.gov PUP page on a computer. 50/50 split of being presented with main survey or beta survey
Channel: computer
People served: 130800469
Surveys offered: 3860465
Responses: 60590
Service provided: IRS.gov Online Account
Transaction point: Random selection after successfully authenticating into the IRS Online Account application on a computer
Channel: computer
People served: 8559847
Surveys offered: 918234
Responses: 45409


Q2 2021

What we learned from this quarter's data:

The third round of Economic Impact Payments (EIP 3) was authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 on March 11, 2021. The IRS started issuing EIP 3 to eligible individuals on March 12, 2021, with more payments sent by direct deposit and through the mail as a check or debit card in the weeks that followed. As of early April the IRS issued about 156 million payments totaling approximately $372 billion.

Pandemic related tax processing delays and inquiries related to EIPs continued to drive significantly higher than normal volumes on our online and toll-free service channels (at peak, more than 1,500 calls per second).

Service details
Service provided: Accounts Management Toll-Free Telephone Service
Transaction point: After calling the IRS Toll-Free line for service over the phone.
Channel: automated_phone
People served: 5839717
Surveys offered: 44709
Responses: 1669
Service provided: Field Assistance Appointment Service
Transaction point: When calling to schedule an appointment for face-to-face service.
Channel: computer
People served: 458852
Surveys offered: 77687
Responses: 3507
Service provided: Field Assistance Appointment Service Follow-Up
Transaction point: Customers who take the initial Field Assistance Appointment Service survey can opt-in to participate in a follow-up survey approximately one month later.
Channel: automated_phone
People served: 458852
Surveys offered: 798
Responses: 232
Service provided: IRS.gov
Transaction point: Random selection after visiting any IRS.gov PUP page on a computer. 50/50 split of being presented with main survey or beta survey
Channel: computer
People served: 216878115
Surveys offered: 13376809
Responses: 106832
Service provided: IRS.gov Online Account
Transaction point: Random selection after successfully authenticating into the IRS Online Account application on a computer
Channel: computer
People served: 7833221
Surveys offered: 4074983
Responses: 42874


Q1 2021

What we learned from this quarter's data:

The IRS successfully calculated and started issuing Economic Impact Payments (EIP) just 14 days after the passage of the CARES Act legislation; and simultaneously delivered two special tools on IRS.gov, in a compressed timeframe, to help taxpayers understand the law and provide millions of people who don’t normally file a tax return a way to quickly register for these payments. A recent Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration report indicated that the IRS correctly computed the payment amount for approximately 98 percent of these EIPs. The IRS calculated and issued the second round of payments (EIP2) just two days after passage of the Coronavirus and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021 on December 27, 2020. A total of 147 million EIPs totaling $142 billion.

For online survey responses, negative scores were most often driven by frustration with delays in tax return processing and refund distribution caused by the pandemic. A high volume of respondents were looking for information related to the first or second EIP and also score more negatively than the average visitor.

Service details
Service provided: Accounts Management Toll-Free Telephone Service
Transaction point: After calling the IRS Toll-Free line for service over the phone.
Channel: automated_phone
People served: 3770404
Surveys offered: 51789
Responses: 2246
Service provided: Field Assistance Appointment Service
Transaction point: When calling to schedule an appointment for face-to-face service.
Channel: automated_phone
People served: 220454
Surveys offered: 40471
Responses: 1738
Service provided: Field Assistance Appointment Service Follow-Up
Transaction point: Customers who take the initial Field Assistance Appointment Service survey can opt-in to participate in a follow-up survey approximately one month later.
Channel: email
People served: 220454
Surveys offered: 564
Responses: 85
Service provided: IRS.gov
Transaction point: Random selection after visiting any IRS.gov PUP page on a computer. 50/50 split of being presented with main survey or beta survey
Channel: computer
People served: 71014169
Surveys offered: 3800681
Responses: 24667
Service provided: IRS.gov Online Account
Transaction point: Random selection after successfully authenticating into the IRS Online Account application on a computer
Channel: computer
People served: 3290256
Surveys offered: 1055834
Responses: 12301