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IRS to Close 68 Tax Assistance CentersPOSTED May 27, 2005 WASHINGTON, DC -- The Internal Revenue Service announced it will close 68 tax assistance centers across the country to reduce expenses. The IRS currently operates 400 Taxpayer Assistance Centers (TACs) that provide walk-in service for taxpayers. The agency will close 68 of those locations this fall following an extensive review. The decision was based on an objective model that weighed five criteria with multiple components, including workload considerations, geographic factors, demographics, employee costs and facility costs. There are 2,300 employees who work at the tax centers and less than 450 employees at the locations that will be closed. As the agency's budget allows, qualifying employees may be offered early out retirements and buyouts. Most employees should be entitled to priority placement for other jobs within the IRS and other Treasury bureaus. The closures reflect fundamental changes in how taxpayers file their taxes and access tax information. In recent years, the use of IRS.gov and e-filing increased rapidly, while face-to-face interactions with taxpayers declined. This year, the majority of tax returns were filed electronically, marking the first time in history that e-filing outpaced paper returns. Adjusting the number of TAC sites will allow the IRS to focus on activities that provide the most efficient services. At the same time, taxpayers will still have access to a variety of IRS services, either by phone, through IRS.gov and from neighboring TAC offices and IRS volunteer tax assistance programs. As the IRS is modernizing how taxpayers receive service, the agency remains committed to improving service and meeting the needs of taxpayers. "We've made significant improvements in service in recent years. The walk-in sites are our most costly service vehicle, and we find taxpayers prefer to use our toll-free phone lines where their questions can be routed to subject matter experts," said IRS Commissioner Mark Everson. "Like most other federal agencies, we're being asked to create efficiencies and be responsible with taxpayers' dollars. Using objective criteria, we're creating these efficiencies where they'll have the least impact on good service." Face-to-face contact is the most expensive method of customer service, and the number of visitors to TACs has dropped as use of the IRS web site has dramatically increased. In Fiscal Year 2004, visitors to TACs were down 1.26 million from the prior year, and down nearly 2 million from Fiscal Year 2002. At the same time, the number of visits to IRS.gov and the number of web page views climbed 128 percent and 155 percent, respectively, between fiscal 2002 and 2004. Following is the complete list of Taxpayer Assistance Centers that will close later this year:
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