Cybersecurity

IRS Web Move May Leave Older, Poorer Filers Behind

Taxpayer Advocate warns more Americans could be forced to pay for help as customer service moves online.
Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
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Think reaching a human at the Internal Revenue Service last tax filing season was tough? National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson anticipates even less telephone and face-to-face customer service in future years.

A planned expansion of IRS online offerings will leave taxpayers who seek help the old-fashioned way “up a creek,” Olson says, listing it as the No. 1 problem in a report to Congress released Wednesday.