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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
National Taxpayer Advocate (NTA) Blog: Lessons learned from
COVID-19: The Critical Need to Improve IRS Digital Services
(for taxpayers)
Individuals, businesses, schools, and federal and state
agencies all continue to be impacted by the COVID-19
pandemic. And as the IRS resumes its business operations
that were partially or completely shut down at the inception
of the COVID-19 emergency, it is still facing challenges of
balancing the health and safety of its employees with
accomplishing its core mission: providing much-needed
services for taxpayers; administering the 2020 filing season
in which it has already processed over 149 million returns
and issued over 119 million refunds totaling over $290
billion; guarding against identity theft, refund fraud and
sophisticated cyber-attacks often exceeding 1.4 billion
attempts each year; performing the extensive programming
required to administer the 2021 filing season; processing
any remaining Economic Income Payments (EIPs); analyzing
potential legislation and preparing for another possible
round of stimulus payments; providing legal and
administrative guidance; incorporating new legislation
changes into its operations; and deploying hundreds of
Customer Service Representatives to assist with wildfire and
hurricane relief efforts – all while continuing its tax
enforcement efforts in a socially distanced environment.
As part of the reopening, the IRS continues to evaluate what
needs to be done to administer the tax laws and provide
necessary taxpayer services under similar conditions in the
future so that it can provide the necessary service required
by taxpayers. My office will continue to advocate for
improved taxpayer services regardless of the
circumstances.
At the beginning of the pandemic, call centers and Taxpayer
Assistance Centers (TACs are the local IRS offices) were
shut down, so taxpayers could not reach the IRS by phone, in
person or by mail. Paper processing centers were shut down,
so paper tax returns and other paper correspondence could
not be opened or processed which created a backlog.
The closures required by the COVID-19 pandemic and the
subsequent challenges exposed critical shortcomings in IRS
technology impacting many functions within the IRS. As the
IRS takes stock of lessons learned from this experience, one
lesson is obvious: improvement of the technology
capabilities of the IRS is critical. It is not a small or
inexpensive task, but it is imperative for proper tax
administration. The country no longer has an option but to
support appropriate funding for the IRS. It is incumbent
upon Congress to fund the technological upgrades the IRS
requires to provide an enhanced level of service and improve
its overall operations. Modernizing its technology and
increasing the use of digital communications and the
electronic production of documents in a secure environment
is no longer a luxury; rather, it is a required operational
need. In this blog, she tackles the expansion of digital
service options to improve the taxpayer experience as
taxpayers interact with the IRS.
Expand Digital Acceptance and Transmission of Documents and
Digital Signatures. The
March closure of IRS offices and mail facilities made it
impossible for IRS employees to receive paper documents from
taxpayers and representatives. (Note: news outlets report
that the IRS has 12 million pieces of unopened mail)
Improve Online Account Accessibility and Features.
The IRS offers an online account for individual taxpayers
and is in the process of developing Tax Pro, an online
account application for practitioners. Taxpayers who gain
online account access can view their balance due, make
payments, retrieve account transcripts, and even view the
status of any EIP, among other features. The IRS continually
adds features to the online account application. However,
certain taxpayers have difficulty satisfying the elevated
e-authentication requirements (verifying that they are who
they say they are) of the application.
Offer Videoconferencing Options to Taxpayers.
Videoconference technology allows taxpayers and
representatives to be both seen and heard, and to share
documents, without being physically present. The IRS
Independent Office of Appeals currently offers WebEx
technology virtual face-to-face conferences between
taxpayers, representatives, and Appeals Officers. The IRS
Office of Chief Counsel and the U.S. Tax Court are
conducting pre-trial conferences and trials using
videoconferencing technology. Taxpayer Advocacy Service is
also evaluating the feasibility of using videoconferencing
technology for virtual face-to-face meetings between Case
Advocates and taxpayers (or their representatives).
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