I don’t know about you, but when I get things “to go” it is usually some kind of delicious food tucked away in a bag that I will be enjoying at home. It is definitely not my taxes, or my tax account, or my tax problems! I don’t want that “to go” with me anywhere! As you probably know, I’m not a fan of the IRS mobile app (“IRS2Go”) which was originally released in January 2011. My dislike, apparently, begins with the name.
Today the IRS announced the release of the latest version, IRS2Go 4.0. Maybe I’ll just let the users explain how bad it is:
- “Doesn’t work”
- “Neat looking app, but worthless”
- “Crap”
- “Disappointing”
- “Seriously?!?”
- “Update doesn’t work”
- “What do you expect? It is the IRS”
There are some positive reviews, so at least some people have gotten it to work, but the average rating for all version is 3.5 and the average rating for the current version is 2.5. It definitely looks like there are some bugs to work out in version 4.0.
I’m guessing that the most popular feature of the IRS to Go App is the Refund Status tab. It is clear from reading several reviews that people who downloaded this app are mainly interested in checking the status of their refund. It is probably also the IRS’ favorite feature since, if it works, fewer refund watchers will be tying up the phone lines. And while this feature existed in prior versions, you could only ascertain whether or not (and when) your refund was processed. In version 4.0 there is new functionality that allows you to track the status of your refund much like you would track a package coming to you via FedEx. According to the IRS it “provid[es] taxpayers an easy-to-use feature to follow their tax return throughout the process.”
Two years ago 350,000 people had downloaded IRS2Go and now apparently that number has risen to 3.5 million. Actually, the number of users can’t be tracked; it is the number of downloads. So the 3.5 million likely includes every time somebody reinstalls for the new tax season, and also if somebody deletes it and reinstalls it 20 times because it isn’t working.
I’m sorry for the negative tone of this post. Maybe I just love bashing IRS tech products. But at least I’m not the only one:
Don’t bother to download. Since the update the app doesn’t work. Not even worthy of a star, but I’m forced to give at least one.
~ IRS2Go 4.0 reviewer, Feb 5, 2014