IRS Hold Time in 2026

Last updated: July 31, 2026

The line that matters is the balance-due line, 1-800-829-1040 — and in the 2026 filing season it averaged 45 minutes and answered only 31% of calls. Across all IRS lines the average was 14 minutes, but that figure is pulled down by the easy queues. The shortest waits are at 7 a.m. local time on a Wednesday. Here's the full breakdown by day and hour, and a few ways to avoid the hold entirely.

Current IRS hold times

In the 2026 filing season the IRS received 48.1 million calls and answered 9.9 million of them — about one in five — with an average hold of 14 minutes (National Taxpayer Advocate, 2026 Mid-Year Report to Congress). It was worse than the year before, when the IRS answered 25% at an 8-minute average.

That 14-minute average is misleading, though, and the report says why: it is pulled down by the Accounts Management lines (73% answered, 8-minute average) and does not include the lines people with a real problem actually need. The balance-due line averaged 45 minutes and answered only 31% of calls; the identity-verification line answered just 19%. So the number that matters is the one for your line, not the headline average.

The other big factor is the calendar. Every figure above is a filing-season number — the IRS takes close to half its annual call volume between January and April. February and March are the worst, when millions of people are calling about their refunds, W-2 issues, and filing questions. April is chaos, especially the closer you get to the filing deadline.

From May through December, things calm down considerably: call volume falls and so does the wait. If your issue isn't time-sensitive, waiting until after April 15 is the single best thing you can do.

Hold times by day of the week

Not all days are created equal. Here's how they stack up:

• Monday — worst. Everyone who thought about calling over the weekend picks up the phone on Monday morning. Hold times can be 50–100% longer than midweek.
• Tuesday — still busy. The Monday overflow spills into Tuesday, especially during tax season. Better than Monday, but not by much.
• Wednesday — best. Consistently the lightest call volume. If you can only pick one day, make it Wednesday.
• Thursday — second best. Nearly as good as Wednesday. A solid choice if you miss the midweek window.
• Friday — decent. People tend to put off calls until Monday, so Friday afternoons can be surprisingly quiet.

One more thing: the day after a federal holiday is almost as bad as Monday. The IRS is closed on holidays, so calls pile up and hit the lines the next morning.

Hold times by time of day

When during the day you call matters just as much as which day you pick.

• 7:00 – 7:30 a.m. — shortest waits. The first half hour after lines open is your best shot. People are still waking up. The queue is fresh. Call at 7:00 sharp and you might get through in 10–15 minutes even during busy periods.
• 8:00 – 10:00 a.m. — building up. The morning rush kicks in. Hold times start climbing toward the daily average.
• 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. — peak. Lunchtime is when everyone decides to "quickly" call the IRS. This is the worst window on any given day.
• 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. — moderate. The lunch rush fades, but you're still in the thick of business hours.
• 4:00 – 7:00 p.m. — dropping off. Late afternoon and early evening see noticeably lighter volume. After 5 p.m. is particularly good — many people assume the lines close at 5, but they're open until 7.

How to reduce your IRS hold time

Some of these are obvious, some aren't. All of them work.

• Call at exactly 7:00 a.m. Not 7:15, not "around 7." Set an alarm. Dial at 7:00:00. The difference between 7:00 and 7:20 can be 30+ minutes of hold time.
• Avoid February through mid-April. Tax season is brutal. If you can wait until May, your hold time will drop by half or more. Obviously this doesn't work if you have a deadline, but a lot of people call during tax season for issues that could wait.
• Use the IRS callback feature. When hold times are especially long, some IRS lines offer a callback option. If you hear it, take it. You keep your place in line and your phone is free. It works — the callback usually comes within the estimated window.
• Try the IRS2Go app. For refund status, the IRS2Go mobile app has the same information an agent would look up. It updates once per day and covers the most common reason people call: "where's my refund?"
• Use Where's My Refund online. Same deal — irs.gov/refunds has a tool that tracks your refund status without requiring a phone call.
• Contact the Taxpayer Advocate Service. If you've been trying to resolve an issue and getting nowhere, call 1-877-777-4778. The Taxpayer Advocate Service is a separate arm of the IRS that handles cases where the normal process has failed you. Hold times are typically shorter, and the agents have more authority to fix things.

Phone tree shortcut

The IRS phone system is built to keep you away from a human. Here's the fastest path through:

The sequence 1 → 2 → 1 → 4 bypasses most of the IRS's attempts to send you to automated services. It's not a secret code — it's just the path that gets you routed to a general agent without the system trying to handle your question itself.

When hold times spike

A few specific dates and periods to watch out for:

• January 15 – 31: Filing season opens. Refund questions start flooding in.
• Late February: W-2 and 1099 correction issues peak.
• March – early April: The pre-deadline rush. Everyone who procrastinated is now panicking.
• April 15 (or the nearest business day): The filing deadline. Do not call the IRS on this day unless you genuinely have no other option. Hold times can exceed 3 hours.
• The day after any federal holiday: Closed Monday? Tuesday is the new Monday, with extra backlog.