For the first time, an IRS employee can retrieve this tax return and transaction data on line, rather than requesting the return from a service center. The IRS can now provide taxpayers with transcripts of their account information within 24-48 hours. In the past, the information was available only by getting a copy of the tax return, a request which took 6 to 8 weeks. Since the transcripts is the equivalent of a copy of the tax return, taxpayers in the recent floods in the Midwest, for example, could more promptly apply for disaster relief and low-interest loans. Transcripts also could be used for student loan or housing grant applications.
Modern technology can also benefit the nations' employers.
It would also eliminate the accompanying problems of incorrect addresses and incorrect tax and tax period designations. In just a year's time we have nearly 2,000 business participating in the prototype to make FTDs electronically. The IRS has an active FedState program to encourage cooperation between the federal government and the states in tax administration and to implement joint projects in tax administration. A major FedState venture is joint electronic filing of federal and state tax returns. After a research test with the state of South Carolina in 1991, the program has grown quickly.