Hello, IRS.. hello? Hello?

... if this were a business policy, you'd be laughed out of the free market with these numbers (hell, at our support center, our goal is 95% response, MINIMUM..)

If you call the Internal Revenue Service for help this tax season and someone actually picks up the phone, consider yourself lucky.

The agency has set a goal of answering only 71 percent of calls to its toll-free help line this year, and those fortunate enough to get through are expected to spend an average of 12 minutes on hold, according to a report released Wednesday by an IRS ombudsman.