House Passes Bill Requiring IRS to Expand Online Access and Disclose Wait Times

For years, Congressman David Schweikert (R-AZ) has watched his district office field the same frustrated calls: "Where is my refund?" Do I owe money? Why won't anyone pick up the phone? On Monday, he got one step closer to an answer.

The House passed Rep. Schweikert's Taxpayer Experience Improvement Act, a bill he said would bring the IRS into the modern era by giving Americans direct, secure access to their own tax information, without ever having to sit on hold.

"Taxpayers should not spend hours on hold with the IRS just to figure out the status of their refund or why they got a letter," Schweikert wrote after the vote. "We all carry a supercomputer in our pocket. My bill directs the agency to finally use that technology."

The Requirements

The legislation, introduced in March 2026, would require the IRS to expand its online taxpayer accounts and mobile access, allowing Americans to view their tax returns, refund status, notices, and correspondence in one place.

The bill also mandates that the IRS display real-time call volume data on its public website, including wait times, queue sizes, and callback availability, information that is currently difficult or impossible to find.

By 2028, the bill expresses a congressional expectation that the IRS offer a callback option for any call not answered within five minutes.

Schweikert has been vocal about the fact that the private sector has offered these kinds of tools for decades, making the IRS's reliance on outdated phone systems increasingly hard to justify.

"Imagine a world, because it's the one we live in, where some of the number one calls we get to my district office are IRS questions," he said during floor remarks. "Where's my refund? Do I owe money? I can't get someone to pick up the phone."

He also acknowledged bipartisan support in getting the bill across the finish line, crediting Democratic colleagues on the Ways and Means Committee for working alongside him on an issue he described as something of a personal obsession.

The bill now heads to the Senate.