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IRS improved customer service, but timeliness problems remain

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The Internal Revenue Service made progress on its customer service and systems last year, but it’s still facing challenges with processing tax returns on time, according to a new report.

The report, released Thursday by the Government Accountability Office, noted that the IRS set a 13-day processing goal for individual paper returns but instead averaged 20 in 2024. In addition, IRS responses to taxpayer mail continued to be delayed, with 66% of them considered to be late at the end of filing season. The IRS has a web page showing the receipt date of taxpayer mail it is processing, but the page didn’t provide timeframes for when taxpayers should expect a response.

The release of the report comes as the IRS began another tax season on Monday while dealing with a hiring freeze imposed by President Trump in an executive order signed on the day of his inauguration, singling out the IRS for an even longer period when it won’t be able to hire. That move has prompted the IRS to rescind some of its job offers amid uncertainty over the more than $20 billion in budget cuts that Congress recently approved as part of a deal to avoid a government shutdown, on top of an earlier $20 billion in budget cuts.

During the 2024 filing season the IRS processed 98% of the nearly 174 million individual and business tax returns it received, as of April 19, 2024, according to the GAO report. However, the IRS continued to face challenges with timely processing of paper returns. For example, the IRS did not meet its 13-day goal for processing individual paper returns, instead averaging 20 days. In January 2024, the GAO reported that the IRS faced similar challenges processing paper returns during the 2023 filing season and recommended that the IRS determine the cause and address processing shortfalls. The IRS agreed and changed its reporting methodology in June 2024 to account for days in which the IRS is still awaiting taxpayer responses. However, the IRS has not yet documented the cause for the shortfalls.

“The 2024 filing season marked significant achievements by the IRS as we continued to modernize our operations by replacing aged equipment and transitioning our process to a more digitally integrated model,” wrote IRS acting commissioner Douglas O’Donnell in response to the report. 

He was named acting commissioner after Danny Werfel announced he would be resigning on Jan. 20, Inauguration Day. Trump had named a former Missouri congressman, Billy Long, to replace Werfel, even though Werfel’s term wasn’t set to end until November 2027.

“We remain focused on improving service to taxpayers, offering them more in-person and online resources as part of our effort to deliver another successful tax season,” wrote O’Donnell. “Taxpayers and tax professionals saw additional improvements in our operations and service in 2024 that made it easier for them to prepare and file taxes.”

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Accountants on IRS and PwC layoffs, accounting students and more

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Complimentary Access Pill

Enjoy complimentary access to top ideas and insights — selected by our editors.

This week’s stats focus in part on the job titles seeing the greatest losses at the IRS during layoffs; as well as the states that have proposed or passed alternatives to the 150-hour rule; the percentage of master’s in accounting program applicants since 2020; the number of PwC employees laid off in May; the projected size of Deloitte’s new New York City headquarters; and the amount of 2026 HSA annual contribution limits, depending on coverage.

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CrowdStrike says DOJ, SEC sent inquiries on firm accounting

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CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. said U.S. officials have asked for information related to the accounting of deals it’s made with some customers and said the cybersecurity firm is cooperating with the inquiry.

The Austin, Texas-based company said in a filing Wednesday that it has gotten “requests for information” from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission “relating to the company’s recognition of revenue and reporting of ARR for transactions with certain customers.” ARR refers to annual recurring revenue, a measure of earnings from subscriptions.

The company said the federal officials have also sought information related to a CrowdStrike update last year that crashed Windows operating systems around the world.

“The company is cooperating and providing information in response to these requests,” the filing states.

U.S. prosecutors and regulators have been investigating a $32 million deal between CrowdStrike and a technology distributor, Carahsoft Technology Corp., to provide cybersecurity tools to the Internal Revenue Service, Bloomberg News first reported in February. The IRS never purchased or received the products, Bloomberg News earlier reported.

The investigators are probing what senior CrowdStrike executives may have known about the $32 million deal and are examining other transactions made by the cybersecurity firm, Bloomberg News reported in May.

Asked for comment about the filing, CrowdStrike spokesperson Brian Merrill said, “As we have told Bloomberg repeatedly, this is old news and we stand by the accounting of the transaction.” 

A lawyer for Carahsoft previously declined to comment on the federal investigations, and representatives didn’t respond to subsequent requests for comment about them.

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Elon Musk urges Americans take action to ‘kill’ Trump tax cut bill

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Tech titan Elon Musk ratcheted up his offensive against Donald Trump’s signature tax bill on Wednesday, urging that Americans contact their lawmakers to “KILL” the legislation.

“Call your Senator, Call your Congressman,” Musk wrote in a social media post. “Bankrupting America is NOT ok!”

The post came one day after Musk lashed out at the tax bill, describing it as a budget-busting “disgusting abomination” as Republican fiscal hawks stepped up criticism of the massive fiscal package. 

Trump hasn’t publicly responded to Musk’s comments, but the White House put out a statement Wednesday saying the legislation “unleashes an era of unprecedented economic growth.” 

And House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters that Musk is “dead wrong” about the bill and that the tax cuts will pay for themselves through economic growth.

Musk’s public condemnation pits him against the president at a critical time as Trump is personally lobbying holdouts on the bill. His campaign against the legislation threatens to stiffen resistance and delay enactment of the tax cuts and debt ceiling increase. 

Musk has attacked the legislation days after leaving a temporary assignment leading the administration’s Department of Government Efficiency initiative to cut federal spending. The Tesla Inc. chief executive officer’s high-profile role in the Trump administration eroded his business brand and sales of his company’s electric vehicles plunged. 

The House-passed version of the tax and spending bill would add $2.4 trillion to U.S. budget deficits over the next decade, according to an estimate released Wednesday from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

The CBO’s calculation reflects a $3.67 trillion decrease in expected revenues and a $1.25 trillion decline in spending over the decade through 2034, relative to baseline projections. The score doesn’t account for any potential boost to the economy from the bill, which Johnson and Trump argue would offset the revenue losses. 

Musk, the world’s richest man with a net worth of about $377 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, has become a crucial financial backer of the Republican party. After making modest donations most years, Musk became the biggest U.S. political donor in 2024, giving more than $290 million.

Johnson said Musk had promised to help reelect Republicans just a day before savaging Trump’s bill. Musk did not respond to a request for comment. 

Most of Musk’s giving was aimed at electing Trump but he also supported congressional candidates. America PAC, the super political action committee that Musk largely funded, spent $18.5 million in 17 separate House races. Though that total pales in comparison to the roughly $255 million he spent backing Trump, the spending means a lot in a congressional election, where challengers on average raise less than $1 million.

Control of the House will likely be decided by the outcome of fewer than two dozen close races in the 2026 midterm elections. The GOP’s chances of holding their majority would suffer a major blow if Musk were to withdraw his financial support.

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