DETROIT – Hundreds of people waited hours in line Saturday to receive free face-to-face tax assistance from the IRS.
The IRS put on the Taxpayer Assistance Center from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Federal Building on Michigan Avenue in Detroit.
By mid-morning, the line wrapped around the block and beyond.
According to the IRS, the Tax Assistance Center is not a place to file your taxes. Rather, it allows people to meet face-to-face with IRS employees to get help with tax account issues, like authenticating someone’s identity and asking about account adjustments.
Many waiting in line Saturday were frustrated, including taxpayer Raquan.
“This building would have to have every employee here for all these people to be seen today,” Raquan said.
Local 4 reached out to the IRS about the overwhelming turnout Saturday and received the following response.
Delays on Saturday occurred due to overwhelming taxpayer demand for assistance, and the IRS is committed to serving those who weren’t able to receive in person help. For people we couldn’t serve in person, we are collecting names and numbers when possible so an IRS representative can call them back. To further assist taxpayers in the Detroit area, we will be taking special steps to help on Monday and throughout the week. We will be working to fully staff our offices next week and adding more people to help on our phone lines.
We also remind taxpayers there are many ways to get help from the IRS. We encourage taxpayers needing assistance to schedule an appointment by calling (844) 545-5640. Many issues can be resolved over the phone to help people avoid a trip to an IRS office. Taxpayers can also get an automatic extension to file until Oct. 15 by visiting IRS.gov.
IRS
The IRS will be offering an addition Tax Assistance Center Saturday May 18 at 477 Michigan Ave, Detroit, MI 48226.