HOUSTON – The IRS left hundreds of Houston area tax filers stranded over the weekend.
A line of last-minute people who needed help stretched nearly half a mile. People in it were frustrated, sad, and put out when they figured out the office unexpectedly closed for the day.
The IRS didn’t apologize but did explain, saying the demand Saturday was overwhelming and they’d been stretched thin with resources in a year where they’d staffed up heavier than ever before.
“The IRS has surged resources to expand in-person service, opening or reopening more than 50 new walk-in centers over the past two years and ensuring they are fully staffed. The IRS has added more than 11,000 additional hours of availability this Filing Season, making this the most hours of in-person service the agency has provided in our history,” the agency told KPRC 2 in a statement.
In the moment, that didn’t do much for the reputation of the IRS on a day when some people had planned and gone to great lengths to get in that line.
Adrienne Angton assisted her grandmother to the office building. She said her grandmother filed her taxes early this year.
“Way back in February, she filed in February,” Angton said. “We didn’t find out until March that she had to come and verify herself.”
Angton said Saturday was the soonest her grandmother could verify.
“My grandmother works on Saturdays. She took off today to get here, and she can’t keep taking off to come here, and then you come here, and this is what you get. It is really sad they allow senior citizens to have to come here and stand in line. You don’t know what their health conditions are that would prevent them or hinder them from standing for long periods of time to be here.”
Lisa Greene-Lewis, a CPA and tax expert with TurboTax says tax filers are asked to verify their identity in order to receive their tax return. She said it’s to protect the filers’ identity and verify they filed the tax return in question.
Genesis Harris, his wife and their five-week-old baby took public transportation -- three buses to get to the office Saturday.
“I have to be at work on Monday, and so I am trying to figure out how I am going to do that at the same time I have to work all day. We go online, trying to figure out how to do it online, and it says our online services are currently unavailable, so now were at a standstill. Stalemate.”
The office opened Monday morning -- tax deadline day -- at 8:30 a.m. to find folks had been waiting in line already for six hours.
An IRS representative assured everyone it will be business as usual today, with additional staff brought in to assist taxpayers.
Here’s what they said on Saturday:
“For people we couldn’t serve in person, we are collecting names and numbers when possible so an IRS representative can call them back. To further assist taxpayers in the Houston area, we will be taking special steps to help on Monday and throughout the week. We will be working to fully staff our offices next week and adding more people to help on our phone lines. We also remind taxpayers there are many ways to get help from the IRS. We encourage taxpayers needing assistance to schedule an appointment by calling (844) 545-5640. Many issues can be resolved over the phone to help people avoid a trip to an IRS office. Taxpayers can also get an automatic extension to file until Oct. 15 by visiting IRS.gov.”
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