In general, over a thirty year period, I have been impressed with the efficiency of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).  It processes billions of documents sent to it annually and generally it does a good job.  Recently, I noticed the amount of errors emanating out of the IRS has multiplied and the type of errors are blatant ones it usually did not make.  For example: we received a notice about the IRS being unable to process a return because it was not signed.  We had a scanned copy of the signed return.  Another notice stated the IRS needed more information, but almost a year earlier the IRS had accepted all changes and closed the audit.  Furthermore, certain electronically filed returns were questioned about signing and filing when we had proof they were received and acknowledged by the IRS.

What is so overwhelming to the IRS that it has become amateurish?  Try political overload in a presidential election year.  Most years, Congress and the administration make changes early enough in the year so that the IRS has three or four months to adjust their computers, forms and processes to efficiently manage the billions of filings the agency contends with annually.  The latest change for 2012, which was extensive, was not finalized until January of 2013.  As a result, the IRS has had to throw most of its resources into preparing for the 2012 tax season.  So, a great deal of oversight and review to catch silly errors are now slipping out at a rate I have not seen in over 30 years.  Maybe this is a reason to demonstrate empathy towards one of the most dreaded governmental agencies…then again, maybe not!