The IRS has officially announced the establishment of its first Taxpayer Experience Office. Optima Tax Relief reviews its features and the IRS’s plans for expansion.
The Taxpayer Experience Office will focus on every facet of the taxpayer experience including service, compliance, transactions and more. It is just one measure that was developed from the Taxpayer Experience Strategy, a comprehensive customer service strategy proposed by the IRS to Congress. The proposal also includes more than one hundred programs designed to enhance the taxpayer experience, specifically focusing on:
- Expanded Digital Services: Enhanced online accounts for both taxpayers and tax professionals
- Seamless Experience: Easy access to resources and clear communication channels to answer inquiries and resolve issues quickly
- Proactive Outreach and Education: Greater accessibility of IRS information in the correct language, timing, and applicable methods for each taxpayer
- Community of Partners: Collaborative and engaging network of relationships across the tax industry
- Focused Strategies for Reaching Underserved Communities: More services offered to previously underserved communities to improve communication, education, and access to products and services
- Enterprise Data Management and Advanced Analytics: Developed data management system to better understand the customer experience, needs and expectations
The IRS hopes to accomplish the above strategies over the course of the next 10 years. Several more urgent needs are to be addressed in the coming months, including hiring additional staff to support these efforts, expanding payment options, securing communication, and offering more services to multilingual taxpayers.
