If you’ve tried contacting the IRS recently, you might have noticed a few things have changed. Here are a few highlights you may wish to be aware of:
1) 70,000+ IRS workers are trying to work remotely. This has resulted in the closure of most local offices, leaving no one to answer the phones for a few weeks. Even the Practitioner Priority Service line and local Taxpayer Assistance Centers are closed for the time being.
2) If you were on a payment plan (ex: for back taxes), your payments are temporarily suspended until July 15th. However if you are interested in establishing a monthly payment plan, you can still go to https://www.irs.gov/payments/online-payment-agreement-application to set that up.
3) If you were on a monthly payment plan for an installment agreement and were paying by check, you can skip payments until July 15th without the IRS defaulting on your agreement. If you were paying by debit though, the interruption of this process is more complicated. (Please see the link below.)
4) Audits are being suspended (except refund audits, which continue within a slightly delayed time frame).
5) If you have a refund hold and are experiencing economic hardship, you can contact the IRS at your local Taxpayer Advocate Service number found at https://www.irs.gov/advocate/local-taxpayer-advocate.
6) Even if you owe back taxes, the government will not withhold your economic impact check to cover those that debt.
7) The IRS is still processing tax returns and encourages you to file your 2019 return as soon as possible.
8) The best place to get more information about the IRS and any of the points above is by going to IRS.gov/coronavirus. All updates will be posted there.
This list is a synopsis of information provided by Accounting Today.