Tax Administration: Data on the Effects of the Economic Stimulus Program on the Internal Revenue Service's Telephone Service and Costs

The purpose of this testimony is to provide information on the effects of the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 on the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) telephone service and costs. As Congress knows, the recent passage of this legislation created additional, unanticipated workload for IRS and required IRS to act quickly to deal with the public's questions and begin issuing payments. The public's questions cover a variety of issues. Millions of Americans who otherwise were not required to file a tax return are eligible for stimulus payments and must file a return to claim their payment. The amount of payment varies from household to household. The schedule for receiving payments depends on individual Social Security numbers, and how and when people filed. As part of our ongoing assessment of IRS's tax filing season performance, requested by this subcommittee and others, we have been monitoring IRS's implementation of the economic stimulus legislation. Because of its importance, Congress requested that we provide information on the effects of the economic stimulus legislation on the public's ability to get questions answered by IRS and IRS's estimates of the costs of implementing the legislation.