Taxpayer Experience Improvement Act
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The bill would require the IRS to post real-time phone wait times, call volumes, and backlog data on its website, and to build online tools letting taxpayers track their returns, refunds, and correspondence.
It would also expand secure online accounts so taxpayers and their authorized representatives can view IRS notices, respond electronically, and access multiple client accounts, aiming to modernize a customer-service system long criticized for long hold times and paper backlogs.
What this bill would do
What it would do
The bill would require the IRS to publish real-time data on its public website about call center performance, including how many callers are connected to a representative or automated system, wait times, callback availability, and monthly summary statistics. It would also require the IRS to disclose when there are significant processing delays for filed documents. Separately, it would require the IRS to give taxpayers online and mobile access to individualized information about their returns, including processing status, refund dates, refund deposit details, and reasons for suspended processing. The bill would further expand IRS online accounts so taxpayers and authorized representatives, preparers, or reporting agents can view notices and letters, respond electronically, and manage multiple client accounts from one login, while requiring safeguards against unauthorized access to return information. It expresses a non-binding sense of Congress that the IRS should offer callback service by 2028, and it does not itself mandate that specific callback feature.
Key provisions
- 1Would require the IRS to post real-time call center wait times, volumes, callback availability, and monthly performance summaries by phone extension
- 2Would require the IRS to disclose weekly information about significant delays in processing filed tax documents
- 3Would require an online and mobile tool giving taxpayers individualized status updates on returns, refunds, and suspended processing
- 4States the sense of Congress that the IRS should offer callback service by 2028 for calls unanswered within five minutes
- 5Would require expanded online taxpayer accounts allowing viewing of IRS notices, electronic responses, and multi-client access for authorized representatives
- 6Would require a program to investigate unauthorized access to taxpayer return information and annual public reporting on enforcement actions
Who would be affected
Individual and business taxpayers who call or interact with the IRS, tax return preparers, enrolled agents and other authorized representatives, payroll and reporting agents who file on behalf of employers, and the Internal Revenue Service and Department of the Treasury, which must build and operate the new systems.
Why it matters
Taxpayers currently facing long IRS hold times and unclear processing delays would gain visibility into wait times and refund status, and could track correspondence online instead of relying on mailed notices. Tax professionals could manage multiple clients' IRS interactions more efficiently, while the IRS would face new transparency and technology obligations with multi-year deadlines.
What would change
Changes to existing law
Amends Internal Revenue Code § 6103 (Sec. 5)
Applies its confidentiality and authorized-disclosure limits to the new online account access for taxpayers and representatives
Agencies directed to act
Effective dates
- Real-time call dashboard and delay-disclosure requirements
- Online/mobile access to return and refund status information
- Sense of Congress goal for callback option availability
- Expanded online taxpayer accounts and unauthorized-access safeguard program
How implementation would work
The Treasury Secretary would direct the IRS to build a public dashboard, an embedded wait-time tool, and an API within 12 months of enactment, and to disclose weekly information about processing delays. Within 12 months, the IRS must also launch return- and refund-status tools, and within 18 months a secure account website or app for viewing notices, responding electronically, and granting representative access, backed by regulations, a misconduct-detection program with annual public reporting, and pre-launch focus groups with taxpayers and tax professionals.
Legislative status & sources
Latest action
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Official CRS summary
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This bill requires the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to provide certain information related to call volume, wait times, and other metrics. The bill also expands online taxpayer accounts and electronic access to federal tax return and refund information.
Specifically, the bill requires the IRS to provide in real time on its public website the number of callers for each applicable phone number extension that are (1) connected to speak with an IRS representative, (2) connected to speak with an automated system, and (3) waiting to speak with either an IRS representative or an automated system.
The website also must include
- the longest wait time of any caller waiting to speak with an IRS representative;
- the estimated wait time to speak with an IRS representative;
- if a callback service is available or when such service is scheduled to be available; and
- certain monthly metrics, including the average and median wait times and call lengths.
Further, the bill expresses the sense of Congress that, by 2028, the IRS should provide an option to receive a callback for any call that is not answered within five minutes.
Finally, the bill requires the IRS to make available (via website or mobile application) to any taxpayer certain information, including
- tax returns, documents, notices, or letters sent to the taxpayer by the IRS or filed with (or sent to) the IRS by the taxpayer;
- the status of a federal tax return or refund; and
- an estimated date for receipt of a refund.
Legislative subjects
Computers and information technology; Data collection, sharing, protection; Government information and archives; Internet, web applications, social media; Tax administration and collection, taxpayers; Taxation; Telephone and wireless communication
Committee report
H. Rept. 119-607