I needed help finding a tax return from a couple of years ago. I needed the transcript because it was required for an application I was filling out, but the IRS certainly does not make it easy to access old records. I originally went online to access my tax transcripts but continually had issues, so I decided to call on my own.
It goes without saying that there are many reasons people end up calling the IRS. Between business and personal tax returns, there are a lot of things that can go wrong. People probably owe payments and back payments or have questions about audits. Then there are people who want to check on their tax returns and people like me who just need the transcripts.
While it would be nice to call and get access to what I need by talking to an agent or using the self-automated system, success was not in the cards today for me. When I first called, a voice assistant stated, "Welcome to the Internal Revenue Service. To continue in English press or say 1." After I pressed one, it asked me to "Please wait," and then hold music started to play. At first, I thought I was going to talk to someone, but then another voice assistant stated, "Please enter the three-digit extension number you were given."
I didn't have a three-digit extension number, so I wasn't sure what to do. I waited a minute and tried saying I didn't have it, but nothing happened. The voice assistant repeated the same message and said, "You did not enter a valid extension; your call is being transmitted to our automated services." Then it launched into a new set of options instructing me, "If you are calling to check the status of your refund, press 1. If you received your refund and it was lost, stolen, or destroyed, press 2. If you are calling to check on the status of a 1040 X amended tax return, press 3."
It then told me to enter my Social Security number, which I did, and then it told me to identify how I filed my taxes. Some of the options included married, single, and surviving spouse. However, before I could answer, it hung up because it said to call back when I had all the filing information available. I was a bit shocked, as I knew the answer. I was just listening to the options in full, and then it dismissed me.
I called back, thinking I could skip ahead to the same spot, but it gave me different options this time, and I wasn't sure what to do. I decided to give up and call another day because if the system was glitching, it wasn't worth my time.