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After kicking off tax season with customer service and technology upgrades, the IRS this week introduced a new option that allows taxpayers to more easily respond to certain government notices.
The new feature will allow taxpayers and professionals to respond to nine communications online by digitally uploading requested documents, rather than responding by mail, according to a Thursday press release.
“This is definitely a step in the right direction,” said certified financial planner John Chichester Jr., founder and CEO of Chichester Financial Group in Phoenix. He is also an auditor.
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Chichester said allowing taxpayers and professionals to respond to notices online will “save everyone time and energy”.
Currently, you can use the new upload feature for the following nine assessments, including income tax credit recipients and child tax credit recipients, which are received from more than 500,000 taxpayers each year:
- CP04 – Battle Zone Status
- CP05A – Request for information about a refund
- CP06 and CP06A – Premium Tax Credit
- CP08 – Child discount
- CP09, CP75 and CP75a – Earned Income Tax Credit
- CP75d – Earned income tax credit and others
The IRS plans to expand the upload capability for “dozens of other notices” in the future.
“This means people’s problems can be resolved much more quickly, including quicker refunds to affected taxpayers,” Acting IRS Commissioner Doug O’Donnell said in a statement.
According to the IRS, when you receive one of the nine notices, it includes a link and a unique access code. You can use any browser to open the link, enter the access code and add personal information before uploading the required documents.
Paper was a key issue for the IRS
The document upload feature comes at a critical time for the IRS as the agency receives $80 billion in funding over the next decade under the Inflation Reduction Act.
Throughout 2022, the IRS struggled with a backlog of millions of unprocessed returns, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said clearing the backlog is a top priority for funding from the IRS.
Paper returns and correspondence have been a key issue, according to National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins, who recently released her annual report to Congress.
“The IRS still relies on outdated manual practices and a human assembly line for its paper processing, and paper is its kryptonite,” she wrote in her 2022 report.
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