After Year of ‘Misery,’ IRS Watchdog Eyes Taxpayer Service Rebound

After a year of “misery” for some taxpayers and tax professionals, National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins is predicting that taxpayer service will be improved this year, though challenges remain.

“We have begun to see light at the end of the tunnel,” Collins wrote in her annual report to Congress, released Wednesday. “I am just not sure how much further we need to travel before we see sunlight.”

Taxpayers and tax professionals experienced difficulties due to continuing pandemic-related backlogs of paper tax returns and the need for the IRS to shift resources to ...