If you think getting the IRS on the phone is tough, try setting up an individual online account.

What’s so maddening about the failures of the individual online account portal is that the IRS can’t handle the volume of phone calls from the pandemic-related surge in taxpayer issues. But if the agency had a better online platform, many people might be able to resolve tax problems on their own, if they could just get to the information the IRS has on them, says Erin Collins, the national taxpayer advocate.