You have reached the Internal Revenue Service. Your call is not important to us. Do not stay on the line. No one will assist you shortly…
IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said unapologetically Tuesday that his agency was turning its back on 60% of the phone calls from taxpayers in need of assistance this tax season.
Speaking at the National Press Club, Koskinen defended the move by noting that a budget shortfall at the agency required it to scale back non-essential services. Helping hapless Americans navigate through the insanely complicated tax code is apparently non-essential in the eyes of the IRS.
Koskinen’s confession comes at a time when many taxpayers are struggling to complete their returns before the April 15 filing deadline. This year that burden has been intensified for some 41 million Americans who are uninsured and, therefore, subject to Obamacare non-compliance penalties.
The snub by the government agency is made that much more contemptible by the commissioner’s having lied under oath last June that some 30,000 emails written by Lois Lerner had been “irrevocably lost.”
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