IRS has ‘unconscionable delays’ in helping identity theft victims, taxpayer advocate says – By Natalie Alms (Nextgov) / Jan 11, 2024
The average wait time for taxpayers trying to resolve fraudulent returns, coupled with legitimate filers being mistakenly flagged as fraudulent, has become a top challenge for the IRS, according to a new report.
Victims of identity theft had to wait over a year and a half on average for the IRS to resolve their cases and to get their tax refunds in fiscal 2023, according to a new report from the National Taxpayer Advocate, an independent IRS organization focused on taxpayer issues and rights.
At the end of last year, the IRS still had about 484,000 more cases remaining in its Identity Theft Victims Assistance unit to work through.
As a result, National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins has included IRS handling of identity theft issues and “unconscionable delays in assisting victims” as a top-ten challenge for the IRS — a change from last year — in her recently released annual report.
