Hoping not to repeat last year’s long wait times on hold and troubling disconnections, the IRS received $290 million in December to put measures in place that will reduce wait times on the phone during tax season for members of the public and their CPAs.

The IRS used the funding, part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016, to hire 1,000 temporary workers to staff phone lines this tax season, as well as bolster identity theft and cybersecurity safeguards. The legislation did not specify how the funding would be distributed among these functions. It did, however, say that the $290 million could not be used for any other purposes.

In the National Taxpayer Advocate’s FY 2016 Objectives Report to Congress, released last July, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen was quoted as having characterized taxpayer services last filing season as “abysmal.” The report said that the IRS was only able to answer 37 percent of calls, and those callers waited an average of 23 minutes on hold. This is in contrast to the 2014 filing season, which saw 71 percent of calls answered in an average of 14 minutes.

The difference is even more pronounced when compared with the 2004 filing season, where 85 percent of taxpayer calls were answered after an average wait time of three minutes.

With the additional staff now available to accommodate taxpayer inquiries, how is this year’s service shaping up? We asked tax practitioners throughout the state what they thought:

Barry S. Kleiman, principal, Florham Park, N.J.: “The wait seems to be shorter both on the customer service line and the practitioner hotline. In some cases the practitioner hotline wait has gone from an hour or more to 30 to 40 minutes—even as little as 10 to 15 minutes. The service reps appear to be more receptive to assist. The identity theft area continues to be extremely helpful.”

Robert J. Schaffer, public accounting staff, Hicksville: “The telephone service with the IRS has actually gotten worse. While the hold times are not terrible, I have heard static, have had several reps supposedly put me on hold and hang up on me, and have had numerous other times where I was on hold and then supposedly being connected to a rep who can assist me and received a dial tone instead.”

Robert S. Barnett, partner, Jericho: “From my perspective there are two issues. The first is the basic taxpayer interaction of answering the phone. This has gotten marginally better but the wait is still very long. Last year the IRS was keeping taxpayers waiting, and then after over an hour, hanging up on the call. I think this has gotten better as I have not heard as many complaints. The bigger issue is taxpayer assistance, and in this regard, the landscape is still challenging. It is often necessary to engage [The Taxpayer Advocate Service] in order to have issues addressed.”

Shari E. Berk, sole practitioner, New City: “It’s easier to actually get through to them the last few months. … Last year I was on hold and they said it would be between 30 to 60 minutes and you’d be on hold for an hour and a half. Compared to being on hold 10 to 15 minutes, it’s a substantial change.”

Heather M. Oboda, supervisor, White Plains: “It was surprising. [The IRS hold message] said I was going to have a seven-minute wait and I literally had a seven-minute wait. So they’re right on time and they have been superhelpful. I have not had any courtesy disconnects where you’ve been on hold for an hour and then say, ‘We’re going to hang up on you now.’

Louis E. Feinstein, sole practitioner, Manhattan: “I’ve limited my use of the federal practitioner hotline given the long hold times experience. [But] I just tried it and was happy to hear that my hold time would be less than two minutes. It would be great if that is the new form.”