The IRS Commissioner has announced three tax filing goals to usher in by 2024. These goals include improved communication, mitigating confusion, and moving closer towards an IRS-backed tax preparation service. Aided by a large increase in annual budget thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, the IRS is hoping these boosts in budget will help them make their goals more of a reality.
Effective Communication for Tax Filing
For the IRS, improving communication includes more than phone and in-person responsiveness. These improvements also include improved enforcement and modernization of IRS technology. Lengthy phone and face to face wait times have long riddled the IRS as a government agency. What’s more, improving enforcement against ultra-wealthy individuals who use “tax cheats” is getting more attention, making sure the federal government receives their money. Even still, the technology currently in place is going to be evaluated and upgraded as an ongoing process of modernization throughout the agency. Thus, greater efforts will be made to improve communication, enforcement and technology resources.
State Tax Filing & Refunds Reporting
While taking care of long wait times, the IRS also wants to look into state tax refunds with more depth. They are investigating how taxpayers report state refunds to the IRS, helping build greater guidance in the future. They pointed out that there were more tax changes made this year during tax filing season, which “was really aggravating and irritating”, according to Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO). Ultimately, the decision on how taxpayers will report state level payments is under the microscope.
Free Tax Service for Tax Filing
More than just state taxes, the IRS hopes to make a big improvement on the existing tax filing program currently offered. Commissioner Daniel Werfel stated, “the whole process needs to be improved,” speaking on the issues that currently exist with their program. Aided by the Inflation Reduction Act, they are using $15 million of that budget to publish a study that is poised to be released next month in May. There has been much debate on how the IRS would handle, or even if they could handle, such a vast program. No matter the outcome, the IRS has big goals to improve their filing system for individuals to pay their taxes.
Wrap Up
So there you have it, folks. The IRS is on a mission, and they’re not messing around. They’re making big changes, and they’re doing it with the help of a larger budget. Let’s see how far they can take it.
