The $80 billion in funding to the IRS provided by the Inflation Reduction Act is expected to be used to improve many of the agency’s services, including information technology (IT), Accounting Today reported.

One improvement on the way is to its phone services. In a recent letter, the National Association of Enrolled Agents (NAEA) complained about  “nearly non-existent phone service at the IRS,”  particularly its often-criticized Practitioners Priority Service (PPS). That service has been plagued by third-party vendors’ auto-dialing and robocalling technology, which allowed their clients to reach the IRS ahead of others through the use of bots.  

"Members have concerns about not being able to represent their clients before the IRS because, with their calls not being answered, they have no access to the IRS on their behalf,” Beanna Whitlock, a former IRS director of public liaisons, told Accounting Today. "The Practitioners Priority Service line is running a program whereby if the practitioner can get into the queue, it goes into a 'cut-off' mode.”

The IRS will also introduce a new portal, Information Return Intake System (IRIS), in January 2023 for tax year 2022. The portal will allow taxpayers to file Forms 1099 electronically.

"It's a means for smaller practitioners or small to midsized businesses that only do a handful of 1099s to go in and upload data,” Stephen Mankowski, tax chair at the National Conference of CPA Practitioners, told Accounting Today. “They will know that it's been filed and has been received and isn't just sitting there.”

IRIS will replace the Filing Information Returns Electronically (FIRE) system, which will be retired.