The Internal Revenue Service will eliminate more than 700 area jobs this year due to consolidation sparked by a rise in the electronic filing of tax returns.
The IRS service center headquartered on Route 133 in Andover will no longer process tax returns after September 2009, according to IRS spokeswoman Peggy Riley.
As a result, 711 full- and part-time positions in Andover, Methuen, Lowell and Fitchburg will be terminated, the majority of the job losses occurring in Andover.
The IRS also hired just 400 seasonal employees in Andover this winter, Riley said. That's 600 fewer than the agency took on a year ago to open and sort mail and process data.
"We don't have as much paper coming in the door anymore," said Riley, noting that IRS employees have known about the impending consolidation since 2002.
Andover will be the fourth IRS location nationwide to eliminate its tax return processing functions, joining offices in Brookhaven, N.Y., Memphis and Philadelphia, which all stopped processing returns between 2003 and 2007.
Currently 3,229 IRS employees work out of Andover, where the agency will continue to operate its only customer service call center in New England.
Divisions for tax audits, collections, and employee training also will remain in Andover, along with criminal investigations, security, data management and personnel employees.
Riley said those slated to lose their jobs this year will get preference for reassignments to other locations within the IRS. Others will qualify for a buyout.
There are two IRS offices in Boston, and locations in Quincy, New Bedford, Southborough, Hyannis, Worcester, Springfield, Pittsfield, and Stoneham. In New Hampshire, the IRS operates out of Nashua, Manchester, Portsmouth, Laconia and Keene.
More than 250 tax processing employees will be eligible to retire this fall, Riley said.
"Right now we're focusing on helping people transfer for other positions," said Riley. "We're explaining to them the buyout procedure, if they prefer to do that."
Riley said the IRS's "e-file" program allows people to maximize their potential tax return and receive it quicker than if they mailed it in to an IRS office.
More than 20 million tax returns filed electronically were processed in Andover in 2008.
"As they become more comfortable on the Internet, paying their bills, it's just a natural progression that they want to file their taxes online as well," she said.
Riley said the Internet eliminates work associated with mail handling and data entry.
"It's going right into the computer system," said Riley.
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Brian Messenger may contacted at bmessenger@gloucestertimes.com.
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