Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR) Customer Service

I have recently been audited for taxes that date back almost ten years ago. I'm sure it's because I am self-employed. Unfortunately, I don't know why I got audited, but now I'm on a quest to figure out what I have to do to get out of this mess. While reviewing my documents I had some questions for the Massachusetts Department of Revenue that I thought might help me figure out my situation better. Therefore, it only seemed logical that I would call them, but they don't make it easy to talk to a live person there. 

Of course, I can understand why they may have an automated system because I'm sure a lot of people call in daily with tax questions. During tax season, which happens to be, the majority of those questions are probably from people who want to know where their tax return is. Despite this, there should be a way for people who have real tax questions that require the aid of an actual person to get to someone. I tried to reach someone via this line and failed so I guess I will have to go online and try again. 

The automated system itself doesn't really offer any options to get to someone, as it seems to focus primarily on just checking your tax status. When I called, an automated voice assistant said, "Welcome to the Massachusetts Department of  Revenue. For faster service and to check on the status of your refund, visit our website. You will be given the opportunity to take a brief survey at the conclusion of this phone call." Then it immediately launched into a directory with these options, "If you are calling to check on the status of your individual income tax return, please press 1. If you are calling regarding your income tax, please press 2. If your call is related to business tax, please press 3. If you would like to hear these options again, please press 9."

I pressed one because none of those options really applied to me, and then it said, "For English, press 1. (Which I did). To inquire about the status of your Massachusetts income you will need your social security number or your taxpayer identification number. You will also need the year of the tax return you are calling about. Please enter your nine-digit social security number or taxpayer identification number." I entered my information and my social security number but then it told me that it couldn't find me, likely because I didn't have the option to choose the year I was calling about. The menu it gave me only went back to 2020.

After it told me it couldn't find me, it said, "Please be aware that information is updated daily at 6 am. Thank you for calling the Where’s My Refund update line. Good-bye." So clearly I'm going to have to find another way to talk to someone.