TAP 03-012

Just in Time Policy

Statement of Issue:

This issue was passed on to TAP by the former Citizen Advocacy Panel (CAP) members and was considered as something that should be looked at for possible change. The IRS frequently sends information and forms out to practitioners and other members of the public so late as to be practically useless for its intended purpose.

Proposal:

In light of the legislative work delaying the release of forms and thus the late publication of Package X, it may be time for the IRS to change the format of Package X. The tax dollars, which go into printing this publication, are wasted if they are not of use to those who need them when they come out. Many practitioners/accountants now access forms and instructions they need from the internet. If the IRS emphasized that all forms are available on the website on the 1045 ordering form, it may discourage offices ordering the Package X when they really don't need it. For those who still need paper format, perhaps a loose leaf binder format would work better. That would allow everything to be sent in December. Forms not yet approved would be sent in "preliminary" format, and as the final approved copies come out, they could be sent and offices would replace the "preliminary" forms with the "final" forms.

Since Stakeholder Partnership Education and Communication is responsible for the Volunteer Income Tax program, we recommend that they consider working up as much of their own materials as possible. If that is not feasible, using the "early release" versions of the forms for the early training, until the Tax Forms and Pubs area can get final versions out.

Response Notes:

IRS has decided not to publish the Package X.