TAP 406-029

Forms, Web Availability of OCR

Issue Statement:

Taxpayers have complained about not being able to download and print Optical Character Recognition (OCR) forms from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) internet site. From the flow of the web site, taxpayers believe their only option is to call and order the forms by phone, a somewhat lengthy and time consuming process.

Goal Statement:

Make it easier for taxpayers to order OCR forms on www.irs.gov.

Proposal:

Replace the current link to the Forms and Publications home page with the actual link “Online Ordering for Information Returns and Employer Returns” on the warning page for OCR forms.  The current web site configuration takes three clicks to arrive at the web page where a taxpayer orders the forms online.

Response Notes:

11/21/2006 email from Sue Sottile to Steven R. Manno and Richard U. Freeman--I believe you saw a similar recommendation before.  Does this fall within your bailiwick?  Please respond directly to Barbara Toy, with a copy to me.  Thanks.  Could you provide a response by the end of November?

11/22/2006 email from Richard U. Freeman--
Paul Dangel will be handling this issue along with Matt Scott. M&P is in agreement with the proposal and will review and modify verbiage as needed for the OCR coversheets, as well as update the link to the following address: http://www.irs.gov/businesses/page/0,,
id=23108,00.html (Online Ordering for Information Returns and Employer Returns). Once new verbiage (as applicable) is approved, we will begin incorporating the modified coversheet into future releases of approved OCR products for posting to the IRS.gov website.