Two of my best friends used to work for IRS - yes, we did meet on the job - and back in the day there was some of this going on, at least at the local office.  They were working on the help desk at least part of the time during season.  And they would set up help desks on April 15th at the Post Office to give limited help to last minute filers.  At the time there was a focus on compliance more than revenue generation.

Gee, it sounds like I'm talking about Mayberry IRS...