On the second anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, the IRS enumerated the significant improvements that the legislation's funding enabled it to achieve. These improvements include allowing taxpayers to "do all of their interactions with the IRS digitally if they choose" and "making it possible for the IRS to uncover and address tax evasion shrouded in complexity that requires subject matter expertise and data science."

“Two years into the historic work made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act, the IRS has made significant progress in the 10-year journey to improve taxpayer service, upgrade technology and ensure more fairness in compliance efforts,” said IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel in the announcement. “If the IRS continues on this trajectory, we will meet a generational imperative on several fronts. ... The IRS will be better equipped to disrupt tax scams and provide immediate and comprehensive victim support when scams occur. We will complete and sustain new solutions for protecting taxpayer data from unauthorized access and disclosure. And we will put in place increasingly accurate audit selection methods that hold accountable those taxpayers who use complex financial maneuvers to shield income while avoiding burdening those taxpayers who play by the rules.”

The IRS cited its expansion of the  customer callback option to improve phone service, which is now available for up to 97 percent of callers seeking live assistance. It also mentioned its expansion of in-person service to reach rural, underserved taxpayers through its Taxpayer Assistance Centers (TACs) across the country.

In addition, the IRS noted that it has used IRA funding to make significant progress in scanning and electronic filing, in order to eliminate paper. It has replaced antiquated technology, allowing for taxpayers to submit more documentation online rather than thought U.S. mail.

“Digitization has far-reaching implications for how the IRS can improve service and will enable the IRS to create completely digital workflows,” the IRS said in its announcement, noting that it has made an additional 23 forms eligible for electronic filing and is enabling taxpayers to submit forms on their mobile devices.

The IRS also reported that it has helped taxpayers to understand and claim appropriate credits and deductions in several ways:

• In November 2023, the agency sent over 1.8 million reminder letters to individuals who received the advanced Child Tax Credit but did not file a 2021 return and could be eligible to claim the other 50 percent of the expanded Child Tax Credit.

• In January 2024, the IRS launched a new annual Tax Professional Awareness initiative to educate tax professionals on refundable credit eligibility requirements and inform them of their due diligence requirements to help taxpayers receive credits.

• The IRS also began a data sharing program with states that enables states to inform potentially eligible taxpayers about the Earned Income Tax Credit.

• The IRS is estimating for the first time the credits gap for the Child Tax Credit, the Premium Tax Credit and others. Previously, the IRS has focused exclusively on the Earned Income Tax Credit gap.

The IRS also documented its efforts to simplify notices and letters sent annually to taxpayers with its January 2024 Simple Notice Initiative, intended to redesign notices so that taxpayers can easily understand why it is contacting them and can take action as needed. The agency noted that it is working to make notices available to taxpayers online and offering a seamless way to digitally respond back to the IRS. Making notices available digitally will also help address scams by enabling taxpayers to verify that a notice they receive in the mail is from the IRS.

Additionally, the IRS noted that it dramatically improved service in filing season 2024, particularly in answering customer calls. The level of service on its main phone lines reached more than 88 percent during the 2024 filing season. Taxpayers waited, on average, just over three minutes for help on the IRS main phone lines. This is down from four minutes in the 2023 filing season and 28 minutes in the 2022 filing season .

The IRS reported that it protected more than $1 billion through its efforts to disrupt scammers targeting the Employee Retention Credit. It also ramped up efforts to pursue high-income, high-wealth individuals who failed to pay their tax bills, and it announced a new effort focused on high-income individuals who have failed to file federal income tax returns in more than 125,000 instances since 2017. The agency is focusing on compliance in the areas of abusive use of partnerships,  activities involving large corporations and partnerships, and corporate aircraft use.

“While much more work remains for the IRS to get where it needs to be, there should be no doubt the agency has accomplished many things during the past two years,” said Werfel. “These efforts to serve taxpayers and improve tax administration will continue to intensify and accelerate in upcoming months and into the future.”