Summary

The IRS is promoting its mobile app, IRS2GO, for taxpayers to manage their tax affairs, including checking refund status and making payments, as phone support becomes less available; additionally, free tax preparation services like VITA and TCE are available for eligible individuals, and the use of these services has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract

The IRS has launched its mobile app, IRS2GO, to streamline tax-related processes for taxpayers. The app allows users to check refund status, make payments, and access other tax services. This move comes as the IRS faces challenges in phone support availability. To assist taxpayers, the IRS offers free tax preparation services through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program for those earning less than $58K, individuals with disabilities, and those with limited English proficiency. The Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) program also provides free assistance, focusing on retirees. The COVID-19 pandemic has reduced the number of volunteers and the utilization of these services, despite their long-standing history and benefits. The article suggests that using these volunteer programs can lead to quicker refund processing, especially when direct IRS support is limited.

Opinions

The IRS's push for the IRS2GO app is seen as a modern solution to address the agency's overwhelmed state and to appeal to Millennials.
The VITA and TCE programs are considered beneficial, especially since volunteers are trained and certified annually.
There is an acknowledgment of the challenges faced by the IRS, such as a backlog of unprocessed tax returns and difficulty in reaching the agency via phone, which underscores the importance of the volunteer programs.
The article implies that electronic filing with the assistance of VITA and TCE can result in faster refund processing.
The author notes a significant drop in the use of volunteer tax assistance programs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The author provides a referral link to join Medium, indicating a financial incentive for the reader to subscribe through their link.
The author emphasizes that their analysis should not be taken as financial advice and clarifies their role as a publisher, not an investment advisor.

Taxes

The IRS Now Wants You to Use Their App — IRS2GO — For your Refund and Other Tax Stuff

They also don’t answer their phone much anymore — so you pretty much have to use the app or volunteers to get help

Photo by Polina Tankilevitch from Pexels

The IRS is overwhelmed. They also want to get hip with Millennials. So, they now have an app you can download onto your phone or tablet — called IRS2GO. It will allow you can do things like:

Check your refund status
Make a payment
Find a free tax preparation service
Sign up for helpful tax tips

I found out about this when I get a recent email from the IRS indicating that they now have several programs to help people prepare their taxes. Here are the guts of that email:

What This Means For Taxpayers

So, in addition to the IRS app, you can actually get help for free preparing your taxes and filing them — without having to pay for the help. Here are the ways:

1. The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program will help you do this as long as you don’t have more than $58K in income, or else have disabilities or have limited English skills.

You can find one of these VITA sites — where people will help you for free — at this link.

2. The Tax Counseling For the Elderly (TCE) program helps those age 60 or older specializing in questions about pensions and retirement-related issues. You can use the same link in point 1 above to find the TCE sites near you.

Since the IRS is so retentive — they actually have a PDF form here that lists the services offered.

If you are suspect of this VITA/TCE program, or simply don’t fit their profile for assistance, you can also go to the AARP locator site to find a volunteer site from the AARP to help you (if you are over 50 I suppose).

3. If you don’t want to do any of this, you can just call 800–906–9887 to find a volunteer site near you.

What Observers Say About the IRS App and Volunteer Program

So far there are no real reviews of the new IRS app. But the IRS has run this VITA program for over 50 years since 1969 and the TCE started in 1974. But last year and in 2020 with COVID-19, the numbers of people using fell dramatically.

For example, in 2019, over 3.5 million tax returns were assisted by 80,000 volunteers.

But, according to CNBC, in 2020 the program had about 10,000 fewer volunteers and prepared 1 million fewer tax returns than the year before.

“ The coronavirus pandemic has also led to many late changes to tax law that could further disrupt filing for many Americans, especially low- to middle-income ones who qualify for the earned income tax credit or who haven’t received economic impact [stimulus] payments or got the wrong amount.”

As a result, the benefits of the VITA/TCE program seem pretty clear cut, especially since volunteers have to be trained and get certified annually to be able to assist.

According to Kiplinger, fewer than 10% of the people who called the IRS were able to get through last year. In fact, millions of people still have not even received their 2020 tax refunds.

Moreover, at the end of 2020, more than 11 million tax returns had not been processed, and that carried over to the 2021 season.

That means that using the VITA/TCE service could be especially helpful for people who have questions or need assistance they can’t get from the IRS.

This is because by filing electronically, with VITA/TCE assistance, you have a much higher chance of getting your refund quicker. The Kiplinger article makes clear that the VITA and free filing service for those with adjusted gross income below $73,000 is a very worthwhile service.

Bottom Line

If you can’t get through to the IRS on the phone, you will have to use their IRS2GO app, or use one of these volunteer programs to get assistance.

You might also want to read my related article about how the IRS wants your picture ID and your license. Big Brother stuff.

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