IRS won't answer phone when calling to verify identity (letter 4883C)

[Vibrantlife]

I believe this becaise of the fact they want to force everybody into using IDMe  so as to get a facial scan and a copy of your ID, which I refuse to do.

[mbreck]

Finally success with this! I called them 4 times on different days, all in the morning around 8am Central, was told each time to call later or the next day. Then I called around 10:30 Central today and it suddenly worked and gave me a 15min wait. 

So... someone will pick up eventually!

[burtms]

I too had good luck recently, about one month ago.

[nickles83]

Dec 2022.  Same problem.  I've called on 4 separate days and after a recording it says call back later or on another day and hangs up on me.

The IRS doesn't owe me anything, as far as I know I don't owe the IRS anything.  But they're saying they can't process my return until they verify my identity. 

Would be nice if they could put my call in a que and call me back, like private sector call centers.

Congress passed another $80 billion for IRS auditing in August 2022 ($10B/year for next 10 years).   I'm surprised that $10 billion dollars/year is not keeping up with their call centers.

[Critter-3]

Ok ... you do realize that those 87K new IRS employees still have to be qualified, hired and trained which takes months not days.   Training at the IRS  is not just  a 3 hour  lesson on how to work the grill like at  McDonald's.  We will not see the the new hires having an affect until later next year since they also need to find  space for these folks to work.  The IRS has been closing offices for a decade as they lost personnel due to attrition and retirement  and  did not hire more due to the hiring freeze and budget cuts.

As far as your identity situation ...  you have the option to verify in person at a local office.  Review the notice you got for your options.

Verify online at IRS Identity Verification Service website
                                             or
By phone at the toll-free number listed on your  letter
                                             or

If you cannot verify online or by phone, make an appointment at a local IRS office.

[nickles83]

@Critter-3  I would like if the phone system would put me on hold or do call-back instead of hanging up on me after waiting through their 2 minute recorded message about how I can verify my ID online when, in fact, I can't because that also gives an error, "We are not able to provide assistance to you via the identity verification tool."  I have an ID.ME account.

The saga continues.  After many more calls, I finally got through to a real person.  Only to be told their computers were down so they couldn't assist me with verifying my identity.  Which probably explains why I got through, they were essentially answering the phone, telling people they couldn't help, and hanging up.  Very short phone conversations.  Since then, I haven't been able to get through again.

I have been trying to make an appointment at the closest IRS office, as this was the last option.  Unfortunatley, that has to be done by phone, and I'm having the same issue.  After a long recording it tells me they're experiencing high call volume and it hangs up. 

[Critter-3]

Option 3 is the taxpayer advocate office  and/or your federal congress person. 

[nickles83]

Finally got through and they confirmed my identity.

The trick is to be persistent.

Also, there is a service for $300 where you can cut in line.  I was about to use that option, but in the end with persistence I got someone.  Well, I got the "long wait" response with a call-back option.  So they do have the system setup to do that, but if the que gets too long then they just hang up.

[carson50]

You can't verify a 4883c letter online.  You have to call them.  Which is VERY near impossible since they won't EVER answer the phone.  It would be SOOO much easier for us, for them to fix their online tool to accept the 4883c letter, at least until they get enough folks to answer their phones.  Otherwise suspend sending the letters out!!  Now, what are the odds the IRS will EVER see ALL these complaints AND actually fix the problem???!!!!  NOT!

[stavi]

Running in to the same problem.

They want you to call to verify identity but they don't have the resources to take those calls.

Considering I filed the same way I have been filing the last 10+ years, this is a monumental waste of my time.

[KatrinaLO]

If you can't verify by phone about your 4883C letter, the IRS website states you will need to schedule and appointment locally and bring the requested documents. Please see the information here for assistance.

@stavi