Calling the IRS was not as tough as I thought it would be, but I could see how it could be a lengthy phone call for people needing to talk to someone. I spent five minutes on the phone and an extra few minutes because I was hung up on the first time by the system, and never once did I hear the option to talk to someone. I imagine that if you need to talk to someone, you have to wade through a large directory first, and it's probably a nightmare.
That said, I only needed to get my tax transcripts. I attempted to do it online, but for some reason, the system didn't seem to allow me to do it. Therefore, I called this number with the hopes that I could request them. To my relief. I didn't have to talk to someone to get to my tax receipts. I just had to follow the prompts until I got through the process. There are so many reasons that people may need to call, whether it's about an audit or past due balance, transcripts or dozens of other issues. I imagine it can be a real gridlock.
When I called, a virtual agent said, "Welcome to the Internal Revenue Service. You can also visit us at www.irs.gov. To continue in English press or say 1." Then it launched into a longer speech and offered me information about what to do if I had a notice stating, "If you received a notice or letter regarding issues related to employment tax forms 940, 941, 943, 944 and 945 including federal tax deposit requirements and penalties, press or say 1. If you have a balance due or want to discuss payment options, press or say 2. For all other business notices or letters, press or say 3."
I didn't need any of these things, so I pressed 3. I did this twice, and the message repeated twice, saying, "We are unable to process your request. Please try again later or visit us on the web. Thank you and goodbye." It was like it wasn't hearing me, and it was annoying because I had to start all over again.
However, when I got back to this point on the second phone call, I pressed 3, and it went straight through. I don't know what happened. It told me to wait, and I listened to hold music for a few minutes. Then it instructed me, "To access your account information, please enter the Social Security number or EIN information for which you are calling." After I entered it, it verified my number and said, "If you entered a Social Security number, press 1 now. If you entered an EIN number, press 2 now."
After this, it gave me a list of ten topics, but transcripts were one of the topics, and by following the prompts, I was able to get the option to have what I needed mailed to my house. So while it took a while, it was an effective phone call.