IRS creates priority phone service for correspondence audits

The IRS on April 2 launched a new toll-free phone service for tax professionals to use when responding to correspondence examination telephone calls or letters. The IRS calls the new service the Practitioner Priority Service (PPS). Practitioners can call a toll-free number (866-860-4259) and select the correspondence examination option (option 7).

Additional prompts, based on the phone number on the letter the tax professional is calling about, direct the call to either the Small Business/Self-Employed (SB/SE) examination line or the Wage & Investment (W&I) examination line. PPS employees will handle up to five clients per call and will transfer or refer calls that are outside of the correspondence examination scope to the appropriate IRS group. The IRS says it will prioritize calls in order to improve the experience for callers.

The service’s hours differ slightly, based on the IRS division handling the examination. The priority service is available for:

• SB/SE issues Monday through Friday from 7 a.m.–7 p.m. local time.
• W&I issues Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.–8 p.m. local time.

Callers should note that the priority service is available only for tax professionals. 

—Sally P. Schreiber (sschreiber@aicpa.org) is a JofA senior editor.

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