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
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 2021, the IRS processed over 168 million individual returns, collected over $3 Trillion in taxes, and issued over $3.65 Billion in refunds, with an average individual refund of $2,815.
Quarterly data reported
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
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
Transaction point: When calling to schedule an appointment for face-to-face service.
Channel: phone
People served: 297383
Surveys offered: 96029
Responses: 3611
Transaction point: After calling the IRS Toll-Free line for service over the phone.
Channel: phone
People served: 2530253
Surveys offered: 32307
Responses: 1087
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
Managing an individual online account
Description
Online Account allows taxpayers to securely access their individual account information. Through their online account, taxpayers can:
- View the amount they owe and a breakdown by tax year
- Learn about payment plan options and apply for a new payment plan
- View details of their payment plan if they have one
- Make a payment from their bank account or by debit/credit card
- View 5 years of payment history and any pending or scheduled payments
- Go paperless for certain notices
- Get email notifications for new notices
- View key data from your most recent tax return and access additional records and transcripts
- View their economic impact payment amounts
- View digital copies of certain notices from the IRS
- View any authorization requests from tax professionals
- Approve and electronically sign Power of Attorney and Tax Information Authorization from their tax professional
Why this service was designated
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. Since its launch in 2016, over 17.6M taxpayers have used their IRS individual online account with a total of over 99M sessions. These have generated over 5.6M tax payments and over 1.5M payment plans, enabling these taxpayers to meet their tax obligations online via self-service.
Usage of Online Account grew exponentially in 2020/2021, and we expect it to continue to grow in the coming years as we add more features. In FY2021 we saw over 50 million sessions and over 12 million unique users, which was an increase over FY2020 of 118% and 101% respectively.
Our vision for the future is a centralized online account experience for individual and business taxpayers that allow them to view their personalized tax information and transact via self-service. We are also working towards our vision for tax professionals to be able to establish and manage their authorization relationships online, access tax-related information, and represent their clients with the IRS.
Quarterly data reported
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
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
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.
Visiting IRS.gov
Description
IRS sends surveys to those who visit IRS.gov.
Quarterly data reported
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
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
Description
The Treasury Department is the executive agency responsible for promoting economic prosperity and ensuring the financial security of the United States. In addition the the IRS, the Treasury Department is made up of several agencies and bureaus including the Bureau of Fiscal Service (BFS). In 2020, supporting multiple COVID-19 relief efforts, BFS disbursed 1.4 billion payments totaling more than $5.4 trillion – making up 89% of all Federal payments, including IRS tax refunds, Social Security and Supplemental Security (SSI) benefits, Federal salary payments and retirement benefits, Veterans benefits, and vendor payments. Additionally, BFS has issued $98.1 billion in Treasury retail securities, and redeemed $114.7 billion in Treasury securities.
Designated Services
- Accessing Federal benefit payments electronically
- Accessing capital and financial products to serve communities in need
Accessing Federal benefit payments electronically
Description
The Direct Express® program issues Federal benefits through a reloadable debit card. A significant number of Federal benefit recipients do not have bank accounts and Direct Express® allows recipients to receive payments electronically.
Why this service was designated
The Direct Express® program manages 5.1 million cardholder accounts – the majority of which are held by the unbanked. The Direct Express® debit card allows cardholders to receive their monthly benefit payments electronically – eliminating the need to wait for a check in the mail, reducing the chances of non-receipt claims, or paying expensive check cashing fees. For most cardholders, this payment is their sole source of income and is essential for basic living needs such as housing, food, and medicine.
Direct Express® is safer, more convenient, and more reliable than a paper check when receiving federal benefits. Additionally, it provides consumer protections available to traditional bank account owners, including for fraud, loss, and other errors. The debit card can be used online or at any retail locations where Mastercard is accepted, or cash can be withdrawn at point-of-sale debit transactions or ATMs. The program has maintained cardholder satisfaction ratings of 92% or higher for the last 10 years.
Accessing capital and financial products to serve communities in need
Description
The CDFI Fund serves CDFIs, community development entities (CDEs), non-profit affordable housing developers in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico. The CDFI Fund helps customers access Federal financial assistance, tax credit authority and bond guarantees for community and economic development purposes. Services include certifying CDFI and CDE organizations eligibility for certain federal assistance programs; providing lending capital, loan loss reserves, and funding for technical assistance; awarding entities with the ability to provide tax credits to investors; and providing bond loans and guarantees for long-term projects.
Why this service was designated
Access to affordable financial products and services is a staple of economically vibrant communities. Yet at least one quarter of American households do not have a bank account or rely on costly payday lenders and check-cashing outlets. Additionally, many small businesses and critical community development projects lack access to the capital investment necessary to spark economic growth in their communities. Through its grant, tax credit and bond guarantee program, the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) actively works to address these issues by investing federal resources—which are matched with private funding—into mission-driven financial institutions and community development organizations recognized for their expertise in providing service and support to low-income communities. In FY 2021 by providing nearly $1.5 billion in monetary awards and loans, committing to guarantee $100 million in bonds, and allocating $5 billion in tax credit authority.