The IRS Doesn’t Need An Overhaul: It Needs Focus.
Discussions about the IRS tend to drift toward frustration, politics, and finger-pointing.
Which is a total distraction.
Once you get past all that, there's a practical reality: The IRS is asked to perform an essential role: administering one of the most complex tax systems in the world with a workforce that has been cut by more than a quarter and technology built in the 1960s. (Can you imagine using 1960s technology at your job? It's unfathomable.)
Even so, if we want the IRS to improve so that Americans feel relatively good about it, there are three areas the government should focus on enhancing.
Three Ways to Make the IRS More Efficient
1. Enforcement Should be Targeted
Not all IRS activity produces equal results. Some initiatives consume enormous resources and bandwidth with little payoff while also creating problems throughout the system. Others result in a much bigger bang for their buck.
Lower and middle-class taxpayers seem to take the brunt of enforcement while the IRS turns a blind eye to sophisticated noncompliance. By focusing on where the money is, enforcement will come up with bigger dollars.
Plus, when enforcement is aimed at sophisticated schemes rather than your everyday taxpayer, it creates a sense of fairness that makes everyone feel more comfortable.
Predictable, nuanced enforcement reduces problems throughout the system. It limits overly broad enforcement that catches compliant taxpayers in the crossfire and minimizes situations where minor issues are blown out of proportion without a payoff.
Selectivity is the key.
2. Use AI to Support Employees
I think most people believe utilizing AI means replacing everyone with computers. To some extent, maybe it does but I think the best way to utilize AI is to automate tasks that are clear-cut, allowing humans to take on more productive roles.
Routine tasks like call routing, transcript analysis, correcting basic calculation errors, and sending out templated letters should be automated. IRS personnel can then focus on the cases that require an understanding of context, analytical discretion, and reasoning.
For taxpayers, this reduces delays and unpredictability and prevents errors. For tax professionals it means a more efficient process, including more quickly understanding what's happening internally at the IRS.
3. Focus Like Hell on Taxpayer Service
It's nice to be nice but pleasant and effective customer service is one of the most effective compliance tools the IRS has.
Clear communication, reasonable response times, and accessible guidance prevent small issues from turning into unnecessarily large enforcement problems. When taxpayers understand what’s happening and what's expected of them, they are more likely to cooperate instead of throwing up their hands and bowing out.
The better the service, the fewer the inbound calls, and the shorter the hold times. Automated, clear notices reduce disputes that turn into big problems that clog up the system.
Plus, taxpayers, professionals, and IRS personnel alike just feel better.
Importantly, all three of these improvements must be implemented together.
Targeted enforcement without improvements in service creates fear and the unknown. Improved service without AI and automation creates backlogs.
But if you improve all three, the system will become predictable and efficient. The complete opposite of what it looks like today.
TL;DR
⏩ Targeted enforcement improves fairness and increases collections.
⏩ AI and automation improve efficiency and support human judgement.
⏩ Strong taxpayer service prevents problems and supports taxpayer engagement.
⏩ Improved efficiency and execution lead to a functional IRS.
➥ Contact Attorney Stephen A. Weisberg for a free Tax Debt Analysis.
Contact Me Here: https://www.weisberg.tax/contact-1
Email: sweisberg@wtaxattorney.com
Phone/Text: (248) 971-0885
Address: 300 Galleria Officentre, Suite 402, Southfield, MI 48034
