The IRS tapped information technology and human resources staff with no experience in taxpayer services to process returns this year, starting them off with nine weeks of classroom training to prepare them for the new roles.
They listened to tedious lectures for eight hours a day, five days a week, according to several employees detailed to process tax returns. When it came time to take their assessments, they said, it was difficult to retain all the information their instructors had offered.
Many people didn’t: At least several hundred of the more than 1,000 employees on the details failed their initial certification exams, agency officials told staff in a recent town hall meeting, a transcript of which was obtained by NOTUS.