The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP), a Federal Advisory Committee consisting of 102 citizen volunteers from across the nation, has released its 2010 Annual Report describing its activities and recommendations to improve IRS service and customer satisfaction. Read the 2010 Annual Report news release.
The report summarizes the TAP’s accomplishments in 2010, including 101 new recommendations and 34 completed projects the panel provided to the IRS.
Key successes include the following IRS actions, which were implemented following suggestions by TAP:
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To help tax preparers in rural areas meet the e-file requirement, the IRS is developing a process for tax preparers in rural areas where high-speed Internet is unavailable.
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To improve taxpayer service, the IRS is extending Taxpayer Assistance Center (TAC) services hours to include some Saturdays, and is improving signs and visual communications in TACs.
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To enhance education about the U.S. tax system, the IRS is working with the National Council of Economic Education (NCEE) to expand the Understanding Taxes program in high school and college classrooms.
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To improve efficiency of levy releases, the IRS launched E-FAX Services, a pilot program that enables employees to fax releases from their desktops.
2010 TAP Chair Sabby Jonathan also recognized the dedicated efforts of TAP’s volunteer panel members who work toward improving the taxpayer experience with the IRS. “It has been exceptionally rewarding working with people of diverse backgrounds, panel members as well as staff, all focused on a single goal; improving the IRS for the benefit of taxpayers. The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is an effective and important group that enables ordinary citizens to bring about real change,” Jonathan commented. “With 237 million tax returns expected to be filed in 2011, improvements at the IRS initiated by the TAP have affected a great number of people.”
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Previous Annual Reports