The Internal Revenue Service hung up on customers calling for help 8.8 million times this year, showing just how low service sank during tax filing season.

The new low in “courtesy disconnects,” a euphemism for an overloaded system hanging up on a caller when there’s no one to answer the phone, was just one grim statistic in a new report to Congress from National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson.

The hang-ups exploded from last year, when the IRS disconnected  544,000 callers.

Read the article “The IRS Hung Up on Taxpayers 8.8 Million Times This Year” on washingtonpost.com.