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After kicking off tax season with customer service and technology upgradesThe IRS this week unveiled a new option to make it easier for taxpayers to respond to certain agency notices.
The new feature allows taxpayers and professionals to respond to nine notices online by digitally uploading the requested documents, rather than responding by mail, according to a Press release of Thursday.
“It’s definitely a step in the right direction,” said certified financial planner John Chichester Jr., founder and CEO of Chichester Financial Group in Phoenix. He is also a chartered accountant.
Chichester said allowing taxpayers and professionals to respond to notices online “will save everyone time and energy”.
Currently, you can use the new download functionality for the following nine notices, including the earned income tax credit and child tax credit allowances, which are received by more than 500,000 taxpayers per year:
- CP04 – state of the combat zone
- CP05A – request for information for a refund
- CP06 And CP06A – premium tax credit
- CP08 – child tax credit
- CP09, CP75 And CP75a – earned income tax credit
- CP75d – earned income tax credit and others
The IRS plans to expand download capability for “dozens more notices” in the future.
“It means people can resolve their issues much faster, including getting refunds to affected taxpayers faster,” said Acting IRS Commissioner Doug O’Donnell. said in a press release.
If you receive one of the nine notices, it will contain a link and a unique access code, according to the IRS. You can use any browser to open the link, enter the access code and add personal details before downloading the necessary documents.
Paper has been a key issue for the IRS
The document upload feature comes at a critical time for the IRS, as the agency receives $80 billion in funding over the next decade under the Inflation Reduction Act.
Throughout 2022, the IRS has been struggling with a backlog of millions of unprocessed returnsand Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen said cleaning up the pileup was one of the main priorities for IRS funding.
Paper filings and correspondence have been a key issue, according to the National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collinswho recently published it annual report to Congress.
“The IRS still depends on outdated manual practices and a human assembly line for its paper-processing operations, and paper is its kryptonite,” she wrote in her 2022 report.