Gwen Graham Calls on IRS to Improve Service

Statement

In response to a sharp decline in service provided by the Internal Revenue Service, Representatives Gwen Graham and Peter Roskam (R-IL) sent a bipartisan letter to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew asking him to review this year's performance by the IRS and provide options for improving service to taxpayers.

"I've made constituent services a priority, and that doesn't just mean how well my office operates -- it means making all of government more responsive," Rep. Graham said. "There's no excuse for forcing taxpayers to wait hours on the phone for help or for hanging up on their calls. The IRS can and must do better to help North Floridian's seeking help."

The letter cites several reported instances of inadequate service, including unacceptably long wait times to speak with an IRS agent on the telephone, an increase in the amount of times the IRS hung up on callers, and a wait time of up to six hours for tax professionals seeking assistance on the Practitioner Priority Service line.

"We wouldn't accept this poor customer service from a private business, and we shouldn't tolerate it from government," Rep. Graham said. "This isn't a Democratic or Republican issue, it's about making government work better for everyone. I hope bringing these problems to the attention of Secretary Lew will result in new effort to provide better service to America's taxpayers"

Graham and Roskame were joined by 45 additional co-signers from both parties, including Patrick Tiberi (R-OH), Steve Stivers (R-OH), Rob Bishop (R-UT), Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Brian Babin (R-TX), Steve King (R-IA), John Moolenaar (R-MI), David Schweikert (R-AZ), Kay Granger (R-TX), Dan Newhouse (R-WA), Ryan Costello (R-PA), Steve Pearce (R-NM), Randy Hultgren (R-IL), Ann McLane Kuster (D-NH), Dave Reichert (R-WA), Luke Messer (R-IN), Dennis Ross (R-FL), David Young (R-IA), Mike Bishop (R-MI), Tim Walberg (R-MI), John Katko (R-NY), Jim Renacci (R-OH), Lynn Jenkins (R-KS), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Denny Heck (D-WA), Paul Tonko (D-NY), Patrick Murphy (D-FL), Derek Kilmer (D-WA), Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Jim Costa (D-CA), Pete Aguilar (D-CA), Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY), Rod Blum (R-IA), J. Randy Forbes (R-VA), Tom Reed (R-NY), Ami Bera (D-CA), Jim Cooper (D-TN), Peter Welch (D-VT), Seth Moulton (D-MA), Dina Titus (D-NV), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Joyce Beatty (D-OH), Terri Sewell (D-AL), Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and John Carney (D-DE).

Source