The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP) has received several complaints from taxpayers about the difficulty in finding forms and publications on the IRS’ website. To validate these complaints, the ability to search for forms and publications on www.irs.gov was tested.
The website was searched for Form 1127, Application for Extension for Time for Payment of Tax, by entering “Application for Extension for Time for Payment of Tax” into the <Search> field on www.irs.gov (shown in the upper right corner of Figure 2). For this test, it was assumed the taxpayer knew the title of the form but not the form number. The search engine presented over 17,000 possible hits, yet none of the first twenty results presented the form as a possible match even though the wording entered into the <Search> function was the precise title of Form 1127.
For taxpayers who do not know the form or publication number but know the title or approximate title, the lack of “search by keyword” function can cause frustration and delays in finding relevant tax forms and publications.
The website does have an “Advanced Search” function where one can limit the search solely to forms and instructions, as well as publications. Figure 3 shows the Advanced Search screen.
To make searching for forms, instructions, and publications easier, it is recommended that the IRS add an option to the list of search types shown in Figure 1 to include “Search by Keyword.” This search capability could be built on the basis of the Advanced Search screen with the “Limit Search To” options of <Forms and Instructions> and <Publications> checked as defaults.The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP) has received several complaints from taxpayers about the difficulty in finding forms and publications on the IRS’ website. To validate these complaints, the ability to search for forms and publications on www.irs.gov was tested.
The website was searched for Form 1127, Application for Extension for Time for Payment of Tax, by entering “Application for Extension for Time for Payment of Tax” into the <Search> field on www.irs.gov (shown in the upper right corner of Figure 2). For this test, it was assumed the taxpayer knew the title of the form but not the form number. The search engine presented over 17,000 possible hits, yet none of the first twenty results presented the form as a possible match even though the wording entered into the <Search> function was the precise title of Form 1127.
For taxpayers who do not know the form or publication number but know the title or approximate title, the lack of “search by keyword” function can cause frustration and delays in finding relevant tax forms and publications.
The website does have an “Advanced Search” function where one can limit the search solely to forms and instructions, as well as publications. Figure 3 shows the Advanced Search screen.
To make searching for forms, instructions, and publications easier, it is recommended that the IRS add an option to the list of search types shown in Figure 1 to include “Search by Keyword.” This search capability could be built on the basis of the Advanced Search screen with the “Limit Search To” options of <Forms and Instructions> and <Publications> checked as defaults.
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