WASHINGTON (AP) – The Internal Revenue Service said Friday it had suspended plans to close some taxpayer help centers after Congress urged the tax collectors to study the decision more closely.

The IRS planned to shut down 68 of its 400 assistance centers this fall – including four in Massachusetts – and shift more taxpayer service to telephone help lines and volunteer programs. More than 7.6 million people used the walk-in sites last year, down from almost 9 million the year before.

IRS Commissioner Mark Everson scheduled the closures in anticipation of cuts to its customer service budget.

“We want to create efficiencies where they’d have the least impact on service,” IRS Commissioner Mark Everson said in a statement announcing the suspension. “Nonetheless, I appreciate the concerns raised by Congress about our walk-in centers and have put those closures on hold.”

House and Senate lawmakers, in separate spending bills for the tax agency next year, instructed the IRS to delay their plans until independent auditors studied the effect on taxpayers. Those bills have not yet become law.

Taxpayers can visit taxpayer assistance sites to talk with a tax agent face-to-face and solve problems with their tax accounts, ask questions about tax laws or pick up forms and instructions. Low-income taxpayers can get help preparing a tax return.

The 68 cities in 29 states where the IRS had planned to close tax help offices were:

Phoenix, Bullhead City, Lake Havasu City, Yuma, Ariz.; San Marcos, Bakersfield, El Centro, Santa Rosa, Santa Barbara, Fresno, Camarillo, Calif.; Colorado Springs, Colo.; Hartford, New Haven, Conn.; Plantation, Saint Petersburg, Fort Myers, Fla.; Atlanta, Ga.; Idaho Falls, Pocatello, Idaho.

Downers Grove, Ill.; Fort Wayne, Ind.; Augusta, South Portland, Maine; Salisbury, Annapolis, Wheaton, Frederick, Md.; Pittsfield, Fitchburg, Quincy, Hyannis, Mass.; Minneapolis, Minn.; Springfield, Mo.; Bozeman, Great Falls, Missoula, Mont.; Reno, Nev.; Keene, Portsmouth, N.H.; Edison, Parsippany, Fairfield, Paramus, N.J.

New York, Bronx, Hauppauge, Kingston, West Nyack, Albany, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Greensboro, Wilmington, N.C.; York, Washington, Pa.; Charleston, S.C.; Austin, Dallas, Texas; Provo, Utah; Brattleboro, Rutland, Vt.; Hampton, Baileys Crossroad, Va.; Silverdale, Wash; Eau Claire, Madison, Green Bay, Wis.; Sheridan, Wyo.