By Jorge Vazquez
29 Sep 2023, 07:00 AM EDT
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced the expansion of its chatbot technology to improve taxpayer experiences by immediately answering basic questions for those who receive notices about not reporting their taxes in full.
The new chatbot feature will assist taxpayers who receive notices CP2000, CP2501 and CP3219A, which notify taxpayers that information received by the IRS from third parties is not consistent with information provided by the taxpayer.
“Through our transformation efforts, we continue to identify and implement technologies to help taxpayers and tax professionals interact with us in the ways they prefer, including expanded digital, telephone and in-person assistance options,” said the commissioner. IRS, Danny Werfel.
“We understand that receiving a notice from the IRS can be concerning and people often have questions. The use of chatbots in call centers has become an effective practice in both the public and private sectors, making it easier for people to quickly obtain basic information to solve their problems and avoid waiting times on the phone,” added Werfel. .
“Implementing chatbots in the IRS call center helps taxpayers resolve their issues faster and helps free up valuable phone resources for other taxpayers with questions about more complex topics.”
The launch of this chatbot is based on the experience of others at the IRS who use this type of technology to improve user service.
Since January 2022, IRS chat and voice bots have helped more than 13 million taxpayers avoid wait times by resolving their tax issues, including creating approximately $151 million in payment agreements.
Chatbots use artificial intelligence to simulate human interaction with taxpayers through a web or mobile application that allows them to respond to questions or requests in a chat function. Additionally, at the end of the conversation, taxpayers can press the “representative” button to speak with a live assistant.
The new chatbot will help taxpayers with the following questions:
· What to do if you received a notice
· How to ask for more time to respond to a notice
· How to find out if the IRS received your response
The IRS said it will add additional bot technology features in the future to help taxpayers with more complex issues.
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