Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Report Gives IRS Poor Marks On Taxpayer Service
Hello? Hello? Customer service at the IRS hit new lows this year, just as taxpayers were grappling with a wave of identity theft and new requirements under President Barack Obama鈥檚 health law. A report issued Wednesday by the National Taxpayer Advocate says the IRS has been hampered by years of budget cuts, which have diminished customer service and hobbled enforcement. The timing of the budget cuts was bad, the report said. (Ohlemacher, 7/15)
Nonetheless, the report said the IRS ran a generally successful filing season under difficult circumstances, processing 126.1 million individual tax returns and issuing 91.8 million refunds while implementing parts of the Affordable Care Act and Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. (McCoy, 7/15)
