Service to taxpayers

This section of the Data Book provides information on the scope and composition of the ways the IRS provides assistance, not only to taxpayers but also to tax-exempt organizations and government entities. The IRS assists taxpayers in meeting their Federal tax return filing and payment obligations through its telephone helplines, via the Internet, at IRS Taxpayer Assistance Centers, and through volunteer-provided income tax assistance.

View chart details XLSX. For additional graphs from this section, download the PDF of this year’s Data Book PDF.

Highlights of the data

• In Fiscal Year (FY) 2024, the IRS assisted almost 62.2 million tax­payers through correspondence, its enterprise-wide telephone helplines, or at Taxpayer Assistance Centers (Table 9 XLSX).
• The IRS provided return prepara­tion assistance through its Volunteer Income Tax Assistance and Tax Counseling for the Elderly programs, preparing almost 2.8 million re­turns with the aid of 72,367 volunteers in FY 2024 (Table 9 XLSX).
• In FY 2024, TAS received 256,737 new requests for assistance and closed 232,504 cases, including those re­ceived in prior fiscal years (Table 11 XLSX).
• The IRS closed 136,323 applica­tions for tax-exempt status in FY 2024. The IRS approved tax-exempt status for 87.0% of these ap­plications (Table 12 XLSX).

Index of Data Book Tables

Taxpayer assistance: Tables 9–16

Table 9: Selected Taxpayer Assistance and Education Programs, by Type of Assistance or Program, Fiscal Year 2024 XLSX
Table 10: Selected Online Taxpayer Assistance, by Type of Assistance, Fiscal Year 2024 XLSX
Table 11: Taxpayer Advocate Service: Post-filing Taxpayer Assistance Program, by Type of Primary Issue and Relief, Fiscal Year 2024 XLSX
Table 12: Closures of Applications for Tax-Exempt Status, by Organization Type and Internal Revenue Code Section, Fiscal Year 2024 XLSX
Table 13: Receipts of Forms 8976, Notices of Intent To Operate Under Section 501(c)(4), Fiscal Year 2024 XLSX
Table 14: Tax-Exempt Organizations, Nonexempt Charitable Trusts, and Nonexempt Split-Interest Trusts, Fiscal Year 2024 XLSX 
Table 15: Determination Letters Issued on Employee Retirement Plans, by Type and Disposition of Plan, Fiscal Year 2024 XLSX
Table 16: Technical Activities and Voluntary Compliance Closures, Fiscal Year 2024 XLSX

Data for all years

• Table 9
• Table 10
• Table 11
• Table 12
• Table 13
• Table 14
• Table 15
• Table 16

Other Data Book Sections:

• Returns filed, taxes collected and refunds issued 
• Service to taxpayers
• Compliance presence
• Collections, activities, penalties and appeals
• Chief Counsel
• IRS Budget & Workforce