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Taxpayer
Advocacy Panel (TAP)
Want to improve the IRS?¨SPEAK
UP
By Andrea Price, TAP member representing Ohio
Guest Column
The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is comprised of civic-minded
citizen volunteers from all walks of life representing each
state, D.C., Puerto Rico and an international member
(citizens living, working or doing business abroad). TAP is
a Federal Advisory Committee whose mission is to listen to
taxpayers, identify taxpayers’ issues and make suggestions
for improving the IRS service and customer satisfaction.
Everyone has something to say about taxes and the IRS. Please take a
moment to give us your suggestions for TAP to consider by
contacting one of the following:
TAP Ohio member:
tapohioandreaprice@gmail.com
Call Toll-free at:1-888-912-1227
Website:
www.improveirs.org
Taxpayer Advocate Service-Your Voice at the IRS
The Taxpayer Advocate Service is an independent organization
within the IRS. TAS employees help taxpayers who are
experiencing economic difficulties, such as not being able
to provide necessities like housing, transportation, or
food; taxpayers who are seeking help in resolving problems
with the IRS; and taxpayers who believe an IRS system or
procedure is not working as it should.
The latest blog posts from Acting National Taxpayer Advocate
Bridget T. Roberts.
In February 2020, The Annual Report to Congress
highlighted the first three “most serious problem”
sections of this year’s report. They are interrelated and,
in combination, provide the message we hope to convey. In
order, they are (i) poor customer service; (ii) outdated
information technology (IT) systems; and (iii) inadequate
funding.
Here is how they interrelate:
Customer Service.
We believe improving service must be the #1 priority for the
IRS. During fiscal year (FY) 2019, for example, the IRS
received nearly 100 million telephone calls, yet employees
were able to answer only 29 percent. At the same time, the
IRS’s fraud detection filters were again plagued by high
false positive rates, forcing hundreds of thousands of
taxpayers who had filed legitimate returns to wait weeks or
even months to receive their refunds. Two leading benchmarks
again found the IRS to be among the lowest performing
federal agencies in providing a positive customer
experience. We are not the only ones who believe improving
taxpayer service should be the IRS’s top priority. During
2019, Congress enacted the most significant IRS reform
legislation since 1998 and made its priority clear by
pointedly titling it the “Taxpayer First Act.”
IT Modernization.
In order to improve taxpayer service (as well as
compliance), the IRS desperately needs to upgrade its
technology. Some examples: The IRS still has not been able
to fully implement customer callback technology, which would
allow taxpayers who call at peak times to elect to receive a
callback rather than wait on hold. Key taxpayer data is
spread across some 60 case management systems, limiting the
IRS’s ability to offer robust online taxpayer accounts; an
integrated case management system is in the works and is
desperately needed. Better technology should allow the IRS
to address the annual problem of high false positive rates
in its fraud detection filters by helping it determine
quickly which business rules are generating the bulk of the
false positives and allowing it to refine them in real time.
These are just examples. The ramifications of outdated
technology are felt across the agency. If the IRS can
substantially improve its IT systems, taxpayer service will
see corresponding improvements — and probably significant
ones.
Funding.
As we noted in our recent report, IRS funding has been cut
by more than 20 percent on an inflation-adjusted basis since
FY 2010, and the number of full-time equivalent employees
has declined by 22 percent. This lack of resources has
limited the agency’s ability to modernize its IT systems as
well as to hire more customer service representatives to
handle taxpayer calls. Over the past two decades, there have
been times when the IRS has fumbled IT initiatives, and its
mistakes have created an impression that it might squander
additional funding again. This is a legitimate concern, but
as we said in our report, we believe the IRS Integrated
Modernization Business Plan released last April is well
considered, and with proper oversight, we believe the IRS
would put additional funds to good use.
So, to summarize the message our LTAs will be conveying: We
agree with Congress that the #1 priority for the IRS is to
put taxpayers first. The IRS should be a taxpayer-centric
organization, and taxpayers should be able to interact
easily with the IRS through whichever communications channel
they prefer — in person, by phone, or online. To achieve
that goal, the IRS must modernize its IT systems and hire
more customer service representatives. And to do all these
things, the IRS must be properly funded.
Interested in more information on these issues?
Find it at
taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov.
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