Getting a real person to talk to at the IRS.

[Car-Guy]

Have you ever tried to call the IRS info help line at 800-829-1040 and navigate through their call management/menu maze to get to a real person to talk to?

A few weeks ago I needed to talk to a real person from the IRS regarding a tax filing question so I called their info line. My question wasn't not really covered by their "menu" of options nor could I find my answers on their website. After calling in, I tried many of the usual call management tricks (e.g. pushing zero, etc) to get to a live person, but all failed. I always ran into a dead end or I had to start over.

Then I found this on the Turbo Tax website and it worked. You may find it useful if you want (need) to talk to a live IRS representative in your attempts to "try" to get an answer to your tax/filing questions.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2...o-you-get-someone-to-actually-answer-the-line

 

[Sunset]

Well, soon that line will be busy all the time as well

 

[Car-Guy]

That's one of the reasons I called a few weeks ago.

 

[joeea]

Have you ever tried to call the IRS info help line at 800-829-1040 and navigate through their call management/menu maze to get to a real person to talk to?

Yes.
I got through.

 

[MarieIG]

I had to call about a year ago. Filed an amended return because the accountant did not include a 1099 for some interest income. Got a bill (didn't think I should because they already had a lot of money overages - didn't matter) and paid it. Then I kept getting bills over and over after my check had cleared.

I had to wait a bit, but that agent was very nice and sent me a letter that I didn't owe any taxes and listed the amount of credit I had towards next year.

 

[scrabbler1]

I am a third-party designee for my (snake-bit) friend and the IRS was sending him tax bills even though I had filed an amended return for him which would eliminate the amount the IRS claimed he owed. I had to call early in the morning, when wait times were relatively small (about 15 minutes) to talk to an agent. He couldn't amend the return but he did stop the letters from being sent to him, good enough. Soon, my friend got a letter telling him the amended filing was accepted and he didn't owe anything.

 

[Huston55]

I had to call about a year ago. Filed an amended return because the accountant did not include a 1099 for some interest income. Got a bill (didn't think I should because they already had a lot of money overages - didn't matter) and paid it. Then I kept getting bills over and over after my check had cleared.

I had to wait a bit, but that agent was very nice and sent me a letter that I didn't owe any taxes and listed the amount of credit I had towards next year.

+1 on the nice IRS agent.

I called yesterday regarding an IRS letter we just received for 2016 taxes; it stated I had mistakes with 1099 income & owed more taxes plus a small amount of interest. I reviewed the info in their letter, compared it to our 2016 return & brokerage 1099s, and found: (1) there were mistakes (an amended 1099 had been submitted by brokerage after we filed) and, (2) the IRS also made a mistake in their letter/calculation. I reviewed this info with the IRS agent on the phone (after ~15 mins wait) and she confirmed what I’d found (my mistakes & the IRS’s), ran a quick calc, stated we owe no additional tax, and confirmed we’d receive a letter stating this with 30 days. I have to say the agent was extremely nice; not just because I got a favorable result but, genuinely nice. I even asked if I needed to file an amended return, and she said “no, I can resolve it right now.”

It will be interesting to see what the Cali FTB does for 2016 state taxes.