Why hasn't the IRS responded to my comment on their proposed rule change?

Unfortunately, this is pretty standard with the IRS comment process. The Federal Register system confirms receipt, but individual responses to comments aren't typically provided. What happens is all comments are collected and reviewed as a batch when the comment period closes. If you check the Federal Register website for that specific proposed rule, there should be a section called "Comments Received" where they'll eventually post a summary of major themes from public comments and their responses. This can take anywhere from 3-6 months after the comment period closes, sometimes longer if it's a complex rule change. Your comment is almost certainly in their system if you received a confirmation number. The IRS isn't ignoring you specifically - they're just not set up to provide individual responses to each commenter. They'll address the substance of comments in aggregate when they publish the final rule.

After struggling with similar frustrations when commenting on IRS proposed regulations, I found an incredibly helpful tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that's been a game-changer for tracking regulatory comments. I was in the exact same position - submitted comments, got confirmation, then radio silence for months. What taxr.ai does is monitor the Federal Register and IRS regulatory submissions, then alerts you when there's movement on proposals you've commented on. It also analyzes the text of your submission against the final rule to show you if concepts from your comment were incorporated or addressed. The tool has saved me countless hours of manually checking for updates and trying to decipher if my input made any difference.

I wanted to follow up about taxr.ai that I questioned earlier. I decided to try it for tracking my comments on the pass-through entity reporting requirements, and I'm genuinely impressed. It found my submission using just my confirmation number and has been sending me updates on the rulemaking process. What surprised me most was when the IRS published their initial response summary, the tool highlighted three specific sections where language similar to my arguments appeared. One of my main points about quarterly reporting burdens on seasonal businesses actually got specifically mentioned in their consideration factors. I never would have connected these dots manually since they didn't use my exact wording, but the tool caught the conceptual similarities. It's not perfect - sometimes it makes connections that seem a stretch - but overall it's given me much better visibility into what happens after I hit "submit" on those comment forms.

If you're still trying to get actual human response from the IRS about your comment, you should try Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I wasted weeks trying to get through to someone at the IRS about a regulatory submission I made last year. After getting nowhere with the published contact numbers, I found this service that basically holds your place in the phone queue. You can see exactly how it works in their demo video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c but basically it waits in the IRS phone queue for you and calls you when an actual human picks up. Sounds crazy but it worked for me. I finally got connected to someone in the Office of Tax Policy who could actually tell me the status of my comment submission.

I need to eat some crow regarding my comment about Claimyr being a scam. After posting that, I was still so frustrated with getting nowhere on my IRS comment submission that I decided to try it anyway as a last resort. Honestly, I'm shocked it worked. After three weeks of getting nowhere, I actually spoke to someone in the Office of Chief Counsel who confirmed my comment was received and included in the review package. They explained they don't respond individually but did tell me which section of the upcoming publication would address my specific concern about home office deduction documentation requirements. The service called me back after about 45 minutes on hold (which I didn't have to sit through myself). Saved me literally hours of frustration. I still think the IRS should improve their communication system, but at least there's a workaround that actually gets results.

Have you tried reaching out to your congressional representative's office? Their constituent services department can sometimes get responses from federal agencies when individuals can't. I had a similar situation with comments I submitted about 1099-K thresholds, and my congressman's office was able to at least confirm my comments were received and included in the review process.

I work in regulatory compliance (not for the IRS), and I can confirm what others have said - individual responses aren't provided for public comments. However, there is a "hack" to get more visibility: submit your comments through a relevant industry association if possible. Comments from recognized industry groups tend to get more directly addressed in the final rule publications. If you're a member of any professional organizations related to your business, check if they're submitting comments on the same proposed rules. Sometimes you can get your specific concerns included in their submission, which typically gets more detailed attention.