https://www.siliconvalley.com/2022/01/25/tax-season-tips-for-a-speedy-refund-and-how-to-avoid-gumming-up-the-works/

The Internal Revenue Service says it’s here to serve, and issued a plea for understanding on the first day of the 2021 filing season: “We are real people serving real people,” IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig said Monday, Jan. 24, “and we want to make everyone proud.”

It’s been a rough couple of years for the IRS. In regular, prepandemic years, the agency fielded about 5 million calls from folks seeking help and information. Last year, it fielded nearly 120 million calls, said Ken Corbin, whose title includes “chief taxpayer experience officer.”