The Internal Revenue Service is slated to begin processing tax returns for the 2014 calendar year on January 20, 2015, while dealing with the Affordable Care Act and another round of congressional budget cuts.

The IRS commissioner implored taxpayers to call the IRS with questions, only as a last resort. At a minimum, expect to be on hold for at least thirty minutes, and the IRS will only answer the most basic questions. This caveat includes tax professionals who may have more complex issues to discuss.

The National Taxpayer Advocate, in her 2014 Annual Report to Congress, expressed the following:

• IRS has cut taxpayer services at the same time filing returns are harder,
• IRS service is at an unacceptable low level,
• If you need help from the IRS, you will need a lot of patience.

What This Means:

We can expect a lot more correspondence audits, (i.e. computer generated notices requesting additional information regarding your tax return) as there are fewer IRS employees reviewing such notices for propriety. These notices, even if issued in error, will require a timely response.