Tax Filing Season: 2014 Performance Highlights the Need to Better Manage Taxpayer Service and Future Risks
Published: 2014-12-16T00:00:00

Fast Facts:

Highlights:
section_title: Why GAO Did This Study
paragraphs: During the filing season, IRS processes tax returns, issues refunds, and provides telephone, correspondence, online, and face-to-face service. GAO has reported that in recent years IRS has absorbed significant budget cuts and struggled to provide quality service. In response, IRS has taken steps, including eliminating some services and implementing a new risk management process. GAO assessed IRS's (1) 2014 filing season performance, including how it compares itself to best practices; (2) efforts to evaluate the effectiveness of 2014 service changes; and (3) actions to manage risk for filing season operations, among other objectives. GAO analyzed IRS documents and data, visited IRS facilities, and interviewed IRS officials and external stakeholders.
section_title: What GAO Found
paragraphs: The Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) processing of tax returns was timely, even though the filing season was delayed due to the 2013 government shutdown. Continued growth in e-filing allows IRS to reduce costs and issue refunds faster. Although IRS received fewer calls in 2014, the percentage of callers seeking help who received it remained low and wait times remained high compared to prior years.
One way to improve taxpayer telephone service is to compare it to the best in business, as required by Congress and executive orders. However, IRS has not systematically made such a comparison for its telephone service because of budget constraints and difficulty in identifying comparable organizations, according to IRS officials. By not comparing itself to other call center operations, IRS is missing an opportunity to identify and address gaps between actual and desired service, and inform Congress about resources needed to close the gap. More efficient telephone service could help improve correspondence service because the same staff provides those services.
IRS did not set numerical goals—such as a reduction in wait time—or develop a plan to assess the effects of its 2014 service changes. Such information would help Congress, IRS managers, and others understand the benefits and potential budget tradeoffs associated with IRS service changes. This is important because IRS has identified additional service changes for 2015 and beyond.
IRS used its new enterprise-wide risk management approach to identify risks such as staffing and training. IRS has made good progress in setting up its risk management process. However, while risks were identified and countermeasures discussed, such as contingency plans and workload adjustments, most countermeasures were not specific. Without specific countermeasures identified in advance, IRS's ability to respond to adverse events may be hampered.
section_title: What GAO Recommends
paragraphs: GAO recommends IRS systematically compare telephone service to the best in business, develop measures and a plan to analyze service changes, and include specific countermeasures in risk management plans.
IRS disagreed with comparing its telephone service to the best in business stating it (1) is not comparable to other organizations and (2) has done targeted comparisons. GAO disagrees. In its view, the recommendation remains valid and benchmarking all aspects of service to the best in business could help IRS improve its service. IRS agreed to develop measures and a plan to analyze service changes. It neither agreed nor disagreed to include specific countermeasures in its risk management plans.

section_title: Letter
paragraphs: The tax filing season is an enormous undertaking during which the  Internal Revenue Service (IRS) processes more than 140 million  individual tax returns, issues hundreds of billions of dollars in refunds, and  provides telephone, correspondence, online, and face-to-face services to  tens of millions of taxpayers. For fiscal year 2014, IRS was appropriated  about $2.2 billion for processing tax returns and providing taxpayer  services (about 19 percent of its total appropriation).
Since fiscal year 2010, IRS has absorbed approximately $900 million in  budget cuts, resulting in significant staffing declines. Performance has  declined in both enforcement and taxpayer services including telephone  and correspondence services. To address budget constraints and  performance issues, IRS has for years pursued a strategy of shifting  taxpayers from labor intensive services such as assistor answered phone  calls and paper correspondence to lower cost services such as online  assistance. In 2014, IRS more aggressively followed the same strategy  including reducing and eliminating services in six areas, such as return  preparation at walk-in sites.
Performance during the 2014 filing season has implications for 2015.  According to the IRS Commissioner, IRS’s 2015 filing season will be  occurring in an environment that presents significant risks. The risks  result, in part, from the current levels of resources and performance but  also because IRS will have major new tax administration responsibilities  in 2015. IRS is one of several agencies responsible for implementing provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).Risk management is a strategy to help agency officials make decisions  about identifying and assessing risks, allocating resources, and taking  actions to manage risks.
Finally, IRS’s uneven filing season performance—coupled with its new  responsibilities—highlight the importance of implementing our past filing  season recommendations to IRS and suggestions to Congress regarding  possible legislative action. If implemented, these recommendations and  suggestions could help IRS more effectively manage its operations and  achieve some savings over time.
In this context, you asked us to review IRS’s 2014 tax filing season  performance. This report (1) assesses how well IRS processed individual  income tax returns and provided telephone and other assistance  compared to its 2014 goals and past performance, as well as how it  compares itself to best practices; (2) assesses IRS’s actions to evaluate  expected and actual outcomes for the six service changes implemented  in 2014; (3) assesses IRS’s actions to manage risk for filing season  operations; and (4) describes IRS’s actions to implement our prior  recommendations.
To assess IRS’s filing season performance, we obtained and analyzed IRS documents and data, including  performance and workload data, for return processing and taxpayer  services, and used this information to compare IRS’s performance  from fiscal years 2009 through 2014 and agency goals to identify  trends and anomalies; visited IRS facilities, including the Joint Operations Center (which  manages IRS’s telephone operations) and an IRS walk-in site (both in  Atlanta, Georgia) to better understand IRS’s operations; obtained and analyzed IRS reports and documents including those  which were on a study that it had undertaken to evaluate a telephone  performance standard;  identified federal standards for evaluating performance and compared  IRS actions to those; interviewed external stakeholders, including representatives from tax  preparation and software firms, who interact with IRS on key aspects  of the filing season and representatives from customer service trade  organizations to identify best practices; and interviewed officials from IRS’s Wage and Investment (W&I) division  (which is responsible for managing filing season operations) and tax  administration experts from major tax preparation firms to obtain  contextual information about IRS’s performance, including the effect  of the October 2013 federal government shutdown and efforts to  improve taxpayer services.
To assess IRS’s actions to evaluate expected and actual outcomes for  the six service reductions or eliminations implemented in 2014, we obtained and analyzed IRS information and data, including full-time  equivalent (FTE) and performance data for IRS’s taxpayer services;interviewed officials from IRS’s Excellence through Productivity  Improvement and Quality group (which is responsible for managing  the service initiatives), tax administration experts including major tax  preparation firms, and the National Taxpayer Advocate to obtain  contextual information about IRS’s performance, including the effect  of the service limitations and reductions to improve taxpayer services;  and reviewed GAO guidance on designing evaluations and assessing  program effectiveness, and used these criteria to evaluate IRS’s  expected and actual outcomes for the service changes implemented  in 2014.
To assess IRS’s risk management activities, we obtained and analyzed IRS documents that identified risks that could  affect the filing season, including the Filing Season Action Plan, the  PPACA, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), and  W&I Risk Registers as well as guidance and working drafts used to  develop the risks and management actions;  interviewed IRS officials in W&I, the Enterprise Risk Management  (ERM) office, and Filing Season Readiness (FSR) Executive Steering  Committee (ESC) to confirm our understanding of the policies and  procedures regarding IRS’s risk management process; compared the actions IRS has taken as part of its risk management  process to identified risks and associated management approaches  listed in the PPACA, FATCA, and W&I Risk Registers to the criteria  outlined by GAO’s risk management approach; and  compared the FSR ESC action plan process—which while not part of  the risk management process, also identifies risks that could affect  filing season operations—to the criteria cited above and limited our  scope to only those risks that were the responsibility of W&I.
To describe IRS’s actions to implement our prior recommendations, we  obtained information from IRS officials and reviewed relevant  documentation, including the IRS Joint Audit Management Enterprise  System reports, which track IRS actions taken to implement our  recommendations. We then determined which recommendations were  implemented. We also searched the GAO Engagement Reporting System  to identify our prior recommendations for executive action and open  matters for congressional consideration.
To identify limitations and assess data reliability, we reviewed IRS data  and documentation, interviewed IRS officials about computer systems  and data limitations, and compared those results to our data reliability  standards. We interviewed Treasury Inspector General for Tax  Administration staff who worked on past reports relevant to our work to  identify data sources and better interpret IRS’s data. We consider the  data presented in this report to be sufficiently reliable for our purposes.
We conducted this performance audit from February 2014 through  December 2014 in accordance with generally accepted government  auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the  audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable  basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We  believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our  findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.
subsections: section_title: Background
subsections: section_title: Return Processing and Other Services
paragraphs: During the tax filing season, IRS processes paper and electronically filed  (e-filed) tax returns and validates key pieces of information, such as a  taxpayer’s name and social security number. The overwhelming majority  of returns are e-filed.
Eligible taxpayers may use IRS’s Free File program  to prepare and e-file their federal tax returns online for free.return processing, IRS offers the following services:  Telephone service for tax law and account questions: Taxpayers can  speak with an IRS assistor to obtain information about their accounts or to  ask tax law questions. Taxpayers can also listen to recorded tax  information using automated telephone menus. In 2010, we  recommended that IRS determine a telephone standard based on the  quality of service provided by comparable organizations, what matters  most to the customer, and resources required to achieve this standard  based on input from Congress and other stakeholders.saying its current process of developing a planned level of telephone  service takes into consideration many factors, including its resource  availability and assumptions about call demand. We noted, however, that  such a standard would allow IRS to communicate to Congress what it  believes constitutes good service. Furthermore, since 2010, the IRS  Oversight Board—an independent body charged to provide IRS with long- term guidance and direction—has said than an acceptable level of service  should be about 80 percent, but IRS has yet to set such a standard.
Correspondence: IRS assistors are also responsible for responding to  paper correspondence from taxpayers. IRS tries to respond to paper  correspondence within 45 days of receipt; otherwise, such  correspondence is considered “overage.” Minimizing overage  correspondence is important because delayed responses may prompt  taxpayers to write again or call. According to IRS, the top three reasons  taxpayers write relate to balance due payoffs, penalty abatements, and  miscellaneous account inquiries.
Online services: IRS’s website is a low-cost method for providing  taxpayers with basic interactive tools to, for example, check refund status,  view and print transcripts, make payments and apply for installment  agreements. In response to recommendations in our April 2013 report,  IRS said that a long-term online strategy for improving web services will  be completed in February 2015.
Face-to-face assistance: Taxpayers can obtain face-to-face assistance  at IRS’s 390 Taxpayer Assistance Centers (TAC), also known as walk-in  sites, or at more than 13,000 sites staffed by volunteer partners. At TACs,  IRS staff answer basic tax law questions, review and adjust taxpayer  accounts, take payments, authenticate Individual Taxpayer Identification  Number (ITIN) applicants and assist identity theft victims. At the sites  staffed by volunteers, taxpayers can receive return preparation  assistance as well as financial literacy information.
section_title: Service Changes in 2014
paragraphs: In 2012, we reported that despite regularly realizing efficiency gains, IRS  was struggling to provide quality services to taxpayers. We showed that  increases in the demand for services have offset the efficiency gains and  that unless IRS made tough choices about what services to provide,  performance would likely continue to suffer. For fiscal year 2014, IRS  reduced or eliminated certain telephone and walk-in services. IRS officials  reported they chose these reductions and eliminations because taxpayers  had other options for these services. Specifically, IRS took the following  actions:  1.  limited telephone assistance to only basic tax law questions during the  filing season and reassigned assistors to work account-related  inquiries;  2.  launched the “Get Transcript” tool, which allows taxpayers to obtain a  viewable and printable transcript on IRS.gov and redirected taxpayers  to automated tools for additional guidance;  3.  redirected refund-related inquiries to automated services and did not  answer refund inquiries until 21 days after a tax return was filed  electronically or 6 weeks after a return was filed by paper (unless the  automated service directed the taxpayer to contact IRS);  4.  limited access to the Practitioner Priority Service line to only those  practitioners working tax account issues;  5.  limited live assistance and redirected requests for domestic employer  identification numbers to IRS’s online tool; and  6.  eliminated free return preparation and reduced other services at IRS’s  walk-in sites.
section_title: Risk Management
paragraphs: To address challenges including the requirements of PPACA and other  responsibilities, IRS has recently established an agency-wide risk  management program office. While IRS previously had a process to  manage risk as part of the annual filing season, the agency is now  standing up a process to address enterprise risk. Risk management is a  tool for assessing risks, evaluating alternative management approaches,  deciding which management approaches to take, and then implementing  and monitoring the management steps. The goal is develop a mechanism  that can be used to inform agency officials and decision makers of  potential risks, and evaluate alternative countermeasures to reduce risk  being considered along with associated costs. IRS’s ability to identify  problems and address them with countermeasures will be crucial in  having a successful filing season in 2015.
section_title: Return Processing Was Timely and IRS Continued to Shift Taxpayers to Lower Cost Services, but Opportunities Exist to Improve Telephone Service
subsections: section_title: Increases in Electronic Filing Continue to Generate Savings
paragraphs: IRS delayed the beginning of the 2014 filing season because the government shutdown compressed the agency’s preparation time.Despite this delay, IRS officials and stakeholders—such as large tax  preparation firms—reported relatively smooth processing, in part,  because there were fewer tax law changes that resulted in fewer system  and form updates compared to previous years. As of September 26,  2014, IRS had achieved an 85 percent e-file rate for individual returns  and processed 7 percent fewer paper returns compared to last year (see  figure 1). Compared to 2009, paper returns have fallen by 51 percent,  from 45 million to 22 million. See appendix I for additional data on return  and refund processing.
As we have previously reported, continued increases in electronic filing  are important because they allow taxpayers to receive refunds faster, are  less prone to transcription and other errors, and reduce IRS’s costs.  Between fiscal years 2009 and 2014, as seen in figure 1, the number of  FTEs devoted to processing decreased by approximately 24 percent— from 11,360 in 2009 to 8,626 in 2014. Since 2003, IRS has reduced the  number of paper processing sites from eight to three: Fresno, California;  Kansas City, Missouri; and Austin, Texas. According to IRS officials, this  consolidation has been a key element in the agency’s ongoing program to  streamline operations, improve customer satisfaction, and achieve  savings through reductions in rent and labor costs.
section_title: Despite Decreases in Call Volume and Continued Success Shifting Calls to Automated Services, Access to Live Assistors Remained Low and Wait Times Remained High Compared to Prior Years
paragraphs: Between fiscal years 2009 and 2014, as shown in figure 2,
Call volume to IRS’s taxpayer service lines varied, and was the lowest  in 2014. IRS attributed 2014’s overall decline in call volume in part to  smooth tax return and refund processing, which results in fewer  phone calls about return errors and delayed refunds. IRS also  attributed the decline to its efforts to limit or eliminate assistor-based  services and direct taxpayers to self-service options. See appendix III  for call volume and telephone service performance and goals since  fiscal year 2009.
IRS significantly reduced FTEs devoted to answering telephones— from about 9,300 to about 6,900—a 26 percent decrease.
IRS answered about 41 percent more calls using automated  assistance. Calls answered by IRS assistors fell to its lowest level in 5  years. Answering as many calls as possible through automation is a  significant efficiency gain because IRS estimates that it costs 38 cents  per call to provide an automated answer, but about $42 per call to use  a live assistor—a 27 percent increase over 2013 (see appendix IV).Its costs per call grew over the past year partly because there was a  bigger decline in the number of calls answered than the number of  FTEs assigned to answer those calls. According to IRS officials, fewer  calls were answered using live assistance because of efforts to  reduce assistor-based services and because there were fewer  PPACA-related calls than expected. In addition, average handle time  increased from 11.8 to 12.5 minutes per call (about 6 percent) from  2013 (see appendix IV). These increases highlight the importance of  IRS efforts to drive people to other sources such as web-based  services.
More than a third of calls ended with the taxpayer hanging up,  receiving a busy signal, or being disconnected before reaching an  assistor. Taxpayers who cannot initially reach IRS may need to  spend additional time redialing and waiting for assistance. Further,  while taxpayers can obtain tax law assistance through alternative  sources—such as tax attorneys or tax preparation firms—taxpayers  who have account questions that only IRS can answer must either  wait to get assistance via telephone or pursue help from IRS through  some other means, such as through sending correspondence to IRS  or visiting TACs.
Figure 2 illustrates aspects of IRS telephone service.
As telephone staffing fell, in fiscal year 2014 IRS’s performance in  providing live telephone assistance—referred to as the level of service— remained low compared to recent years at about 64 percent (see figure   This is considerably lower than the 82 percent level of service IRS  3).achieved in 2005. It is also well below the 80 percent level of service  considered acceptable by the IRS Oversight Board. While during the  filing season IRS’s level of service was about 70 percent or slightly  higher, this rate also is still well below past performance.
IRS has requested additional funding to deliver a targeted level of service.  For instance, in its fiscal year 2015 congressional justification, IRS  requested a 10 percent increase in FTEs to deliver a telephone level of  service of 71 percent.
One of IRS’s expected outcomes of its fiscal year 2014 service changes  was to improve wait time for telephone service. However, in fiscal year  2014, taxpayers had to wait more than twice as long to speak with  someone as they did in fiscal year 2009, when the average wait time was  about 9 minutes (see figure 3). Wait times increased in part because IRS  devoted fewer FTEs to answering telephones and because the average  handle time increased (see appendix IV). This is important because  taxpayers must call IRS or visit walk-in sites for certain account-related  information that they cannot access online.
For a number of years, IRS assistors have answered tax law and  account-related inquiries with more than 90 percent accuracy in part  because IRS uses interactive tools to help prompt and direct assistors to  provide more accurate and consistent responses to taxpayers (see  appendix III). This trend continued in fiscal year 2014, with a 95 percent  accuracy rate for tax law inquires and a 96 percent accuracy rate for  account-related inquiries (with confidence intervals of 90 percent). IRS  was able to maintain this high rate of accuracy even though the  government shutdown delayed hiring and caused IRS to increase its  reliance on just-in-time training.
In recent years, the type of telephone calls IRS receives and answers has  changed. Specifically, the number of tax law inquiries has somewhat  decreased and a slightly greater portion of calls are account related. This  is due in part to such efforts as limiting the scope of tax law inquiries it  answered in 2014. The shift in the types of calls answered by IRS  assistors may explain at least in part the increase in telephone wait times  as shown in figure 3. Taxpayers have alternative sources of information  for tax laws inquiries, such as from tax software or a paid tax preparer.  Taxpayers with questions about their accounts, however, may have no  choice but to speak to an IRS assistor.
section_title: IRS May Be Missing Opportunities to Improve Telephone Service by Not Systematically Comparing Its Telephone Service to the Best in the Business
paragraphs: Comparing performance data on calls answered by IRS assistors to the  best in the business can help IRS understand taxpayer needs and  improve service. Both Congress and the executive branch have taken  action to improve customer service. The GPRA Modernization Act of  2010 (GPRAMA) requires agencies to, among other things, establish a  balanced set of performance indicators to be used in measuring or  assessing progress toward each performance goal, including, as  appropriate, customer service. In addition, Executive Order 12862,  Setting Customer Service Standards, requires that all executive  departments and agencies that “provide significant services directly to the  public shall provide those services in a manner that seeks to meet the  customer service standard established” which is “equal to the best in  business.” Most recently, Executive Order 13571, Streamlining Service  Delivery and Improving Customer Service, was issued to strengthen  customer service and required agencies to develop and publish a  customer service plan, in consultation with the Office of Management and  Budget (OMB). Finally, OMB has issued memorandums and guidance  to agencies identifying a number of actions to improve customer service,  including setting, communicating, and using customer service  standards. Most recently, in July 2014, to help agency leadership focus  on this issue, OMB issued guidance that agencies include additional  customer service information with their fiscal year 2016 budget  submissions.
IRS has taken some steps towards conforming to federal customer  service standards by, for example, having a suite of performance  measures for its telephone and other key operations. It also has worked  with its W&I research analysis group on a variety of issues including call  demand forecasting. However, we found that IRS has not systematically  benchmarked its telephone (customer) service to the best in business.  Specifically, IRS conducted one study that focused on its level of service,  benchmarking its measures to seven private and public sector  organizations and enabling it to identify options for modifying the level of  service measure. However, it has not regularly compared its suite of  performance measures to those used by comparable organizations.  Further, it has not benchmarked its actual performance against goals  achieved by other organizations with large-scale call center operations to  determine whether there are opportunities to improve telephone service  provided by live assistors. IRS officials cite budget constraints and  difficulty in identifying organizations (other than the Social Security  Administration) that are comparable in size, complexity, and uniqueness  as reasons they have not systematically compared IRS’s telephone  service performance against the best in the business.
By not comparing customer service performance against the best in the  business, IRS is missing an opportunity to identify and address gaps in  actual and desired service and inform Congress about resources needed  to improve the level of service provided to taxpayers. We have previously  reported on IRS’s budgetary constraints.resulted in fewer resources available to IRS, a better understanding of the  nature and size of service gaps could help it provide the best service  possible with declining resources.
section_title: Overage Correspondence Continued to Increase and FTEs Stayed about the Same
paragraphs: In 2010, we concluded that providing timely responses to paper  correspondence is a critical part of taxpayer service because if IRS’s  responses take too long taxpayers may write again or call IRS for  additional assistance. We recommended that IRS establish a  performance measure that includes providing timely correspondence  service to taxpayers. IRS agreed and started using more detailed  performance measures, including an overaged timeliness measure for its  correspondence.
These performance measures indicated that the time it takes IRS to  respond to correspondence has continually increased since fiscal year  2009. Taxpayers sent IRS somewhat less correspondence between fiscal  years 2013 and 2014 (21 million and 20 million, respectively), yet total  overage stayed close to 50 percent during the same period. While total  overage slightly increased, IRS devoted about 2 percent more FTEs for  responding to correspondence (see figure 4). As noted earlier, IRS  assistors are responsible for both telephone and correspondence duties.  Consequently, IRS’s performance in responding to correspondence is  dependent on the volume and length of telephone calls answered by  assistors and the volume of work that is shifted to automated services.  According to IRS officials, shifting calls to automated lines enabled IRS to  better focus assistors’ efforts on taxpayer services that require live  assistance. Since assistors also respond to correspondence, shifting calls  also enabled them to devote more time to correspondence.
section_title: New Self-Service Tools Helped Shift Demand to IRS’s Website
paragraphs: IRS continued to make progress in directing more taxpayers to online  resources and away from telephone and face-to-face services. Use of  IRS’s website reached approximately 440 million visits for fiscal year  2014, 4 percent fewer than fiscal year 2013. IRS attributes this decrease  to improved website design, which allowed visitors to accomplish their  goal in fewer site visits. Use of IRS’s website was slightly lower in fiscal  year 2014 than the previous year partly due to fewer forms and  publications being downloaded as a result of fewer tax law changes.
For the 2014 filing season, IRS launched two new self-service web  applications, Get Transcript and Direct Pay:
Get Transcript allows taxpayers to request and print tax transcripts  online immediately. The taxpayer must first pass IRS’s authentication  process. The tool will not work for taxpayers who are filing for the first  time, are victims of identity theft, or cannot remember the answers to  IRS’s authentication questions, such as the street address from the  last tax return filed. Taxpayers may request for the transcript to be  mailed, but must wait 5 to 10 days to receive it. Use of Get Transcript  exceeded IRS’s estimates of about 9 million requests. In fiscal year  2014, taxpayers used the application to request or view 19 million  transcripts. This resulted in IRS receiving 43 percent fewer requests  through other channels.
Direct Pay allows taxpayers to electronically pay their tax bills or  make quarterly estimated tax payments directly from checking or  savings accounts without any fees or preregistration. IRS reported it  processed more than 1 million payments totaling more than $1.7  billion through Direct Pay (as of September 10, 2014). IRS expected  Direct Pay to help significantly reduce the millions of paper checks  received each year.
IRS reported that it has made progress in addressing our previous  recommendations on improving its online service strategy. Specifically,  IRS reported that it was in the process of developing a long-term strategy  for improving web services for taxpayers and officials expected it to be  released in early 2015. A long-term comprehensive strategy for online  services will help ensure IRS is maximizing the benefit to taxpayers from  this investment and reduce costs in other areas, such as for IRS’s  telephone operations. See appendix V for additional information on use of  IRS’s website.
section_title: IRS Eliminated Return Preparation and Shifted Taxpayers from Taxpayer Assistance Centers to Volunteer Partners
paragraphs: Face-to-face assistance at IRS’s Taxpayer Assistance Centers (TAC) and  volunteer sites remains an important component of IRS’s efforts to serve  taxpayers, particularly those with low incomes. As part of its service  changes for 2014, IRS eliminated return preparation at TACs and  redirected taxpayers to volunteer sites and Free File. In fiscal year 2014,  taxpayers visited TACs 5.4 million times, a decline of about 17 percent  compared to the previous year. In almost half of those visits, taxpayers  received assistance with account-related inquiries. Meanwhile, IRS  assigned fewer field assistance staff to TACs in fiscal years 2010 through  2013 (see figure 5).
At the same time IRS eliminated return preparation at TACs, taxpayers  increased their use of volunteer sites and Free File. IRS’s 12,319  volunteer partner sites prepared a little more than 3.6 million tax returns in  fiscal year 2014—a 7 percent increase from the previous year. Use of  Free File also increased, although use prior to 2014 had been decreasing  (see table 1). See appendix VI for additional information on taxpayer use  of TAC and volunteer site services.
section_title: IRS Did Not Develop Measurable Goals or an Analysis Plan to Evaluate the Effectiveness of 2014 Service Changes, Which Could Inform Planned Changes for 2015
paragraphs: Our guidance on designing evaluations states that to appropriately  assess program effectiveness, outcome measures must represent the  nature of the expected program benefit.cover key aspects of desired performance and should not be unduly  influenced by factors outside the program’s control. In addition, to know if  a program directly resulted in the desired effect, the data collection and  analysis plan must establish a link between the program and the  expected result.
IRS identified outcomes in the form of FTE savings and other service  improvements such as improving telephone level of service. However,  most of those outcomes did not specify measurable goals. For example,  IRS planned to improve wait time, but did not state a numeric goal for  reducing wait time. As a result, IRS’s outcomes were not a clear  representation of the nature of the expected program benefits.
While IRS collected some data that it could use to evaluate effectiveness,  it did not develop plans to analyze the data or track it in a way that would  allow officials to draw causal connections and develop valid conclusions  about the effectiveness of its 2014 service changes (see appendix VII for  an assessment against our criteria and appendix VIII for our analysis of  IRS’s service changes). Without measurable goals and other analyses,  IRS could not identify whether specific service improvements were a  result of its service changes or other external influences on taxpayer  behavior. For example, as discussed, wait time actually increased in  2014. While IRS sought to improve wait time, without setting a numeric  goal that can be measured, it does not know the extent to which it was  unable to meet its goal. Moreover, IRS does not know whether the  increase in wait time was a result of external factors, or if wait time would  have increased even more without its service changes.
Without such information, it will be difficult for Congress, IRS  management, and others to understand the benefits and potential budget  trade-offs associated with IRS’s service changes. This is important  because IRS has identified additional ones for 2015 and beyond.
In addition to maintaining the 2014 service changes, as of early  September IRS had proposed the following for 2015:  1.  Redesign notices to clearly state why the notice was issued; if a  response is required; what action, if any, is required; and inform  taxpayers about online resources and self service tools as an  alternative to calling or writing the IRS.  2.  Expand use of the Oral Statement Authority tool to reduce the amount  of written correspondence to resolve penalty relief requests.3.  Direct taxpayers who meet the Online Payment Agreement  qualifications to use a tool online (and at kiosks where available) to  apply and set up installment payment agreements instead of calling or  visiting IRS.  4.  Reduce the volume of IRS products at TACs and community outlets,  including forms, instructions, and publications that are available online  at IRS.gov, and encourage taxpayers to use available online sources.  5.  More heavily promote electronic payment options, such as IRS Direct  Pay, as an alternative to cash, check, or money order payments made  at a TAC site or by mail.
These service changes are examples of IRS’s efforts to promote more  technology-based services to serve the maximum number of taxpayers  possible more effectively and efficiently. We have previously reported  that, given the volume of taxpayers calling IRS and sending  correspondence, shifting taxpayers to self-service tools, such as  interactive automated telephone lines or IRS’s website, is key to  improving taxpayer services.then fewer will need to speak to an IRS assistor and IRS’s costs will fall.
section_title: IRS Used its New Enterprise Risk Management Process to Identify Major Risks for the 2015 Filing Season, but Management Plans Lack Specificity
paragraphs: According to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, implementation of  new tax laws such as PPACA combined with a tight budget and the  possibility of Congress passing a late package of tax extenders threatens  to make 2015 “the most complicated filing season before us in a long  time, if ever.” At the enterprise level, in February 2014, IRS undertook a new approach to risk management in response to management failures  related to applications for tax exempt status. In that effort, IRS  established an Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) process that  formalizes risk management across the organization.
As part of the ERM process, IRS created several risk registers, including  an enterprise risk register that consists of 15 broad emerging risk  categories. The top two risks IRS identified were (1) staffing and training  and (2) budget sufficiency. IRS ranked the emerging risk categories by  highest to lowest likelihood and impact. Also as part of ERM, IRS  developed two other enterprise-wide risk registers, one covering PPACA  and the other FATCA. In addition, IRS developed a risk register for its  W&I division, which is responsible for the filing season. The PPACA,  FATCA, and W&I risk registers identify risks and list management  activities that might affect the filing season. IRS plans to expand risk  management procedures at the process level, such as filing season  operations, in the future. IRS’s ERM guidance notes that divisions and  offices should determine appropriate risk management activities.
Separate from the ERM process, IRS has a long-standing process to  ensure filing season readiness. This process strongly mirrors our  framework for risk management—including identifying risks, developing  management actions, getting management concurrence, and  implementing and monitoring those actions. The FSR Action Plan  contains specific steps to undertake in response to critical tasks, given  the budgetary constraints under which the filing season operates.
While there is no established universally agreed upon set of requirements  or processes for a risk management framework, we have previously  developed one that can be used to inform agency officials and decision  makers of the basic components of a risk management system or which  can be used as a stand-alone guide. Consistent with our framework, risk  management activities should evaluate alternative countermeasures to  reduce risk being considered along with associated costs. Furthermore,  evaluating alternative countermeasures should include specific  countermeasures to reduce risk.
Table 2 shows the results of our analysis of IRS enterprise risk  management procedures and filing season procedures.
As table 2 shows, IRS has made good progress in setting up its risk  management process. In some cases we found it was too early to assess  whether the ERM process meets the criteria. For example, the status of  monitoring efforts is unknown because the risk management effort is still  in the early stages.
However, in the alternatives evaluation stage, we found IRS has an  opportunity to strengthen the ERM process. The criteria of this stage are  specific countermeasures to reduce risk, use of external sources to  improve decision making, and cost-benefit analysis of countermeasures.
According to IRS’s own guidance, management plans should be detailed  and contain the following information: all areas that could be impacted if  an adverse event occurred; all activities required to effectively reduce  likelihood, impact, or both; critical or due dates, external dependencies  and activity ownership; and residual risk (risk left after management  activities) and actions taken to address residual risks.
IRS has not developed specific countermeasures as part of its risk  management activities. Instead, in many cases, the management  activities rely on decision making once the adverse event occurs rather  than providing an explicit course of action (see appendix IX for  examples). IRS’s proposed activities lack specific countermeasures to  address the risk, but rather emphasize opportunities to assess the  adverse event as it unfolds. For example, IRS has identified delays in  creating PPACA forms as a high impact risk that may occur for the 2015  filing season, but has not identified specific countermeasures for  addressing this likely event. Developing specific countermeasures would  allow IRS to better address likely risks by either reducing the probability  an event may occur or by managing the effects of an adverse event.
Officials in W&I said they have not yet fully developed alternatives  because they have focused on becoming familiar with risk management  processes. An official in IRS’s ERM office stressed the importance of  prioritizing risks so as to most efficiently direct the use of resources to  develop management activities. In April, IRS undertook what officials  described as a “temperature check” that had the aim of assessing current  risks and indentifying additional risks to provide a high-level overview of  risks within the business units and aggregating them at the enterprise  level. These risks were listed in various risk registers and include  management activities as well as a link to the emerging risk categories.  IRS officials acknowledged that the risk management strategies need  further refinement.
We have reported on IRS budget cuts and the uncertainty the cuts cause,  but simply ranking perennial concerns such as staffing and budget may  delay the development of management activities on other impending  potential risks and loses sight of why risk management is important. The  reason for risk management is to provide options to tackle risks in a  budget constrained environment.
As mentioned earlier, many of the management activities listed in the risk  registers envision meetings to discuss a response to an unfolding risk  situation. These types of meetings should be held ahead of time and a  range of scenarios should be considered with appropriate response.  Then, when a risk situation unfolds, specific countermeasures or a  roadmap is already in place to guide the response. Without specific  countermeasures, including a cost-benefit analysis of options, IRS is  unable to provide clear guidance for implementing or prioritizing  countermeasures, which could hamper its ability to respond to adverse  events that could affect filing season operations.
section_title: IRS Has Implemented Six Filing Season Recommendations but Some Significant Ones Remain Open
paragraphs: Since 2010, we have issued seven reports on various aspects of IRS’s  filing season activities. These reports included 20 recommendations for  IRS to improve filing season operations, become more efficient, and  provide taxpayers with better customer service. IRS has implemented six  of the recommendations.
Both taxpayers and IRS have received benefits as a result of IRS’s  implementation of our recommendations. For example, IRS implemented  our 2011 recommendation to offer an automated telephone line that gives  taxpayers the status of their amended tax return. This telephone line  provided taxpayers with faster service because they did not have to wait  for a live person to assist them. The phone line also enabled IRS to  reduce costs and make better use of its available resources because it  lowered taxpayer demand to talk to a live assistor. Table 6 in appendix X  summarizes the filing season recommendations implemented by IRS.
Tables 7 and 8 in appendices XI and XII summarize the 14  recommendations IRS has yet to implement. IRS officials told us they fully  agreed with seven of the recommendations, agreed in part with one,  disagreed with two, and neither agreed nor disagreed with four. IRS is  taking or plans to take certain actions to implement the recommendations  that it agreed with or did not disagree with. Six of the 14  recommendations relate to improving web services. Specifically, in April  2013, we recommended that the IRS should develop a long-term strategy  to improve web services provided to taxpayers (see appendix XII).
subsections: section_title: Expanded Math Error Authority Could Help IRS Increase Pre-refund Compliance
paragraphs: Since 2008, we have raised five matters for Congress to consider that  make changes to the ability of IRS to use its math error authority (MEA) to  quickly correct errors without the need for an audit. Without a specific  grant of MEA authority, IRS must use audit procedures to correct errors  before it could issue a statutory notice of deficiency. Congress took our  2009 suggestion and provided IRS with MEA so it could automatically  verify taxpayers’ compliance with payback provisions for the 2008 First- Time Homebuyer Credit. With this authority, IRS was able to adjust  taxpayers’ refunds if they had not complied with the payback provision.  As a result, from fiscal years 2010 through 2013, IRS prevented over  $500 million in improper refunds from being sent to taxpayers. Congress  has not yet acted on the other four matters we have asked Congress to  consider related to MEA. All five matters are summarized in table 9 in  appendix XIII.
section_title: Conclusion
paragraphs: IRS continues to struggle with providing services to taxpayers. It is caught  between declining resources on one hand and increasing statutory  responsibilities and growing demand from taxpayers on the other. As we  have discussed for several years, IRS needs to do two things—first, it  needs to ensure that available resources are utilized as effectively as  possible by identifying opportunities to improve services, and second, it  needs to make tough choices about which services to continue providing.
One way IRS could more effectively use available resources is by  benchmarking telephone service to the best in business. The importance  of providing high quality customer service is driven by the requirements of  GPRA, GPRAMA and executive orders, and OMB guidance and  memorandums which emphasize the relationship of customer service to  agency performance and outcomes. While IRS has taken some steps to  improve telephone service, it has not systematically and periodically  compared its service to the best in business. As a result, IRS is not  benefiting as much as it could from the roughly 7,000 FTEs it is devoting  to telephone service. Further, because IRS uses the same staff for  telephone and correspondence means that it limits IRS’s ability to work  paper correspondence as effectively as possible as well.
In one effort to more effectively use resources in 2014, IRS made  decisions to reduce or cut services. While its stated goal was to improve  service, IRS did not identify the improvements it hoped to achieve. As a  result, IRS is unable to determine the effectiveness of the changes or  make informed decisions about additional service changes in 2015 and  beyond.
Another way that IRS is trying to better manage its constrained resources  is through its new process for identifying and managing enterprise-wide  risks. If well executed, IRS’s efforts should help the agency allocate  resources and take actions under conditions of uncertainty when  implementing PPACA. IRS has made good progress in setting up its risk  management process. While it is too early to assess some aspects of the  risk management framework, there is one area where IRS could take  action to better prepare itself for risks. The risk management strategies  IRS identified lack specifics, which could hamper IRS’s ability to respond  in the event a risk occurs. More specific countermeasures would better  position IRS to either reduce the probability of an adverse event or  manage the consequences if an adverse event occurs.
section_title: Recommendations for Executive Action
paragraphs: The Commissioner of the Internal Revenue should direct the appropriate  officials to take the following three actions:
Systematically and periodically compare its telephone service to the  best in business to identify gaps between actual and desired  performance.
Develop outcomes that are measurable and plans to analyze service  changes that allow valid conclusions to be drawn so that information  can be conveyed to Congress, IRS management, and others about  the effectiveness of IRS’s service changes and impact on taxpayers.
Include specific countermeasures or options in risk management  plans that could guide a response when an adverse event occurs.
section_title: Agency Comments and Our Response
paragraphs: We provided a draft of this report to the Commissioner of Internal  Revenue. IRS provided written comments on a draft of the report, which  are reprinted in Appendix XIV. IRS also suggested technical changes to  the report, which we incorporated where appropriate.
IRS disagreed with the recommendation to systemically and periodically  compare its telephone service to the best in business, stating that the  differences between the purposes of IRS’s telephone operations and  public sector contact centers are too significant to yield useful results  when broadly compared to each other. We disagree that IRS’s telephone  operations cannot be compared to others. IRS notes, and we report, that  the agency has conducted targeted benchmarking against the best in the  business which it believes was helpful in identifying gaps and potentially  improving performance. Specifically, IRS benchmarked one measure of  telephone service—level of service—to both private and public sector  organizations which allowed it to identify options for modifying that  measure. However, IRS uses more than one measure to more fully  evaluate its telephone performance. Benchmarking all of those measures  alongside each other (and potentially others it does not currently use) to  the best in the business could help improve taxpayer service. Further, as  we note in our report, the criteria allow for comparison to private  organizations providing analogous services, not just those that are exactly  comparable. Comparisons of telephone service to the best in business  can help inform Congress about resources needed to improve the level of  service provided to taxpayers. Accordingly, we believe this  recommendation remains valid and should be implemented.
IRS agreed with our recommendation to develop outcomes that are  measurable and analyze service changes to allow for valid conclusions to  be drawn. To accomplish this, IRS said that it will develop projections to  assess the effect of service changes during the 2015 filing season,  allowing it to determine the amount of resources that are reallocated as a  result of the service changes and to assess the taxpayer experience and  address opportunities for improvement. IRS reported it anticipates  completing this analysis by the end of fiscal year 2015.
IRS did not state whether it agreed or disagreed with our  recommendation to include specific countermeasures in its risk  management plans. Our report acknowledges the progress that IRS  has made implementing its ERM program. For the risk registers we  reviewed, IRS had assessed the probability and impact of the risks listed,  meaning that it had prioritized its risks; however, it had not developed  specific countermeasures. Without specific countermeasures, risk  assessment becomes a fruitless exercise. Without countermeasures  specifically articulated in risk management plans, IRS’s ability to  respond quickly and appropriately to an adverse event may be  hampered. Therefore, we believe IRS should implement our  recommendation and include specific countermeasures in its risk  management plans.
We plan to send copies of this report to the appropriate congressional  committees. We will also send copies to the Commissioner of Internal  Revenue, the Secretary of the Treasury, and other interested parties.
In addition, the report will be available at no charge on the GAO website  at http://www.gao.gov.
If you or your staff have any questions about this report, please contact  me at (202) 512-9110 or whitej@gao.gov. Contact points for our Offices  of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last  page of this report. GAO staff who made key contributions to this report  are listed in appendix XV.
section_title: Appendix I: Individual Income Tax Returns and Refunds Processed, 2009 through 2014
paragraphs: Continued increases in e-filing are important because processing costs  are lower for e-file returns and refunds are issued faster. For the 2014  filing season (through early March), on average IRS reported it processed  direct deposit refunds for e-filed returns within 9 days.
section_title: Appendix II: Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Data for Telephone, Correspondence, Submission Processing and Other Categories, Fiscal Years (FY) 2009 through 2014
section_title: Appendix III: IRS Call Volume and Telephone Service Goals and Performance, Fiscal Years (FY) 2009 through 2014
subsections: section_title: Total calls to IRS (in millions)
paragraphs: The numbers in the table are the total automated, assistor answered, abandoned, busy and  disconnected calls, and do not reflect the total number of attempted calls to IRS.  IRS calculation based on representative samples of phone calls from January 1 through June 30.  The percentage of calls in which assistors provided accurate answers for the call type and took the  appropriate actions, with a 90 percent confidence interval.
section_title: Appendix IV: Costs for Calls Answered by IRS Assistors and Automated Services and Average Handle Time with Assistors, Filing Seasons 2009 through 2014
section_title: Appendix V: Use of IRS Website and Online Services, Fiscal Years (FY) 2009 through 2014
subsections: section_title: Use of IRS website and mobile application tools Total visits to IRS.gov (in millions) IRS2GO downloads (in millions)
paragraphs: Self-service tools – assistance with tax filing and  payments  Taxpayer forms, publications, and instructions downloads (in  millions)  Interactive Tax Assistance Tools (completion in thousands)
Direct Pay Transactions (in millions)  Volunteer site locator (in thousands)
Self-service tools – other requests for information  Where’s My Refund? (completion in millions)
Electronic Filing Personal Information Number Request  (completion in millions)
Where’s My Amended Return (in millions)
section_title: Appendix VI: Services Offered at IRS Taxpayer Assistance Centers (TAC) and Volunteer Sites, Fiscal Years (FY) 2009 Through 2014
section_title: Appendix VII: GAO Assessment of IRS’s Efforts to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Changes to Taxpayer Services
paragraphs: To identify criteria appropriate for assessing the effectiveness of IRS’ six  service changes, we reviewed our guidance on designing evaluations and  assessing program effectiveness and used this criteria to evaluate IRS’s  efforts to evaluate the effectiveness of changes to taxpayer services. Our  analysis shows that IRS met some of the criteria, but did not meet the  criteria for selecting outcome measures and developing an analysis plan.
section_title: Appendix VIII: GAO Analysis of Expected and Actual Outcomes for IRS’s 2014 Service Changes
paragraphs: Most of the expected outcomes that IRS identified were not specific or  measureable goals. IRS had some data that it could have used to assess  the effectiveness of its 2014 service changes. We compiled this  information to compare the reported results of the service changes  against IRS’s expected outcomes.
section_title: Appendix IX: Selected Excerpts From IRS’s Risk Registers
paragraphs: IRS risk  Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) risk register  Wage and Investment  (W&I) resources  diverted from working  paper inventories due  to PPACA phone traffic  If PPACA-related increase in  phone traffic occurs, then  W&I will have to divert  resources from working  paper inventories to  manning the telephone lines,  resulting in reduced levels of  customer service decreased  customer and employee  satisfaction, and increased  costs.
Research Organizations to  determine the optimal  balance of resources to  provide customer service.  4.  Adjust the Compliance work  4.  Not specific —  plan to move some audit  starts later in the year to  reduce the impact of mail.  5.  New PPACA systems are  being engineered to allow  opportunities to change  thresholds/work level  receipts.
5.  Not specific – Systems  6.  W&I Service Delivery  Approach to evaluate  services to ensure delivery  of core service and to drive  service to most efficient  delivery method. Evaluate  trade-off analysis and what  to “stop doing.” Filing  Season 2015 Approach is  under development.
IRS risk description  If late or retroactive PPACA  legislation occurs and  shortens the planning  process and/or results in  rework, or if additional  Presidential Executive  Orders are issued to delay  or alter original enacted  legislation, then late  changes to requirements  and a delay to the Filing  Season could result in  decreased public  confidence, decreased  customer service and  customer satisfaction,  diminishing chances for  successful implementation  and introducing a  reputational risk.
Analysis Tracking and  Implementation Services  representative who attends  regular meetings to  determine the impact of new  or expiring legislation.
PPACA IRS Counsel  resources to support  decision making. staff to support future  discussion 4.  A PPACA dedicated staff  4.  Not specific — Assigned  identified at PPACA  Program Management Office  at Headquarters, Office of  Program Coordination and  Integration (OPCI) in W&I,  the Electronic Invoice  Presentation and Payment  team and the PPACA Joint  Implementation Teams to  support organizational  readiness activities.
IRS risk description  If development of PPACA  forms (other than PPACA  Information Return products)  does not comply with  existing timeframe of Filing  Season Readiness  Approach, then Unified Work  Requests, training  development and delivery,  and IRM updates may all be  delayed - forms readiness  drives all.
PPACA IRS Counsel  resources to support  decision making. staff to support future  discussion 3.  Significant external partner  3.  Not specific – Dialogue  relationships to socialize  upcoming changes and  robust communication  strategy.  4.  Repeatable, highly effective  FSR planning process for a  holistic look at upcoming  events and legislation and  impact to people, process  and technology.
Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) risk register  Timing for Form 8966  submitter requirements  due to International  Compliance  Management Model  (ICMM) schedule could  prevent appropriate  execution of electronic  filing Help Desk  mission to successfully  answer calls and  inquiries  Development of the outputs  from ICMM has not begun.  Electronic Products and  Services Support training is  dependent upon the  finalization of submitter  responses (if we do not have  the electronic filing of the  8966, then there will be no  work for the Help Desk to  do). As of right now, it is  developing ICMM as the  technological developments  to enable electronic filing.  The impact to electronic  filing is lack of sufficient lead  time to develop and deliver  training by deployment date.  Could have already hired  and trained.
1.  New hires typically come on  1.  Not specific – Training  board in October. Recalls  are brought back on  September/October training  is typically completed in 2  weeks. Cannot complete  training without knowing the  ICMM process. FATCA  training would have to be  delivered separately in a  compressed time frame.  Make training room  reservations now.  2.  Train assistors to do other  2.  Not specific —  work if Form 8966 does not  materialize.  3.  Reallocate inventory and  3.  Not specific — revise resource work plan.
IRS risk description  The ICMM program will be  contracted out with a  contract award date of  August 8, 2014. To meet the  January 1 “go-live” date,  there is a significant  workload to accomplish in a  very short period of time  once the vendor is on board.  If the ICMM system is not  running by January 1, 2015,  then Form 8966 needs to  come through via paper  which poses a risk to  Submission Processing. The  impact of this would be no  electronic filing of Form  8966; the form will be on  paper instead, which will  cause a resource constraint.
GAO analysis  1.  Not specific —Dialogue  to testing and integration  with W&I systems and  processes and the  timeframe of the testing.  2.  The contingency plan for  Submission Processing to  incorporate paper  processing F8966 into  existing work is the  following. When faced with  over-receipts, the following  actions are taken as a  standard practice:  —1) Receipts are monitored  to determine if/when extra  manpower is needed  —2) People are recruited  from other areas that may  not be facing high volumes  in their work at the time.  3.  Obtain research on what the  3.  Not specific – Monitoring  paper volumes would be -  projected volume is 100,000.
subsections: section_title: W&I risk register
paragraphs: IRS risk description  If significant changes to,  and/or expansion of, the  breadth and complexity of  the IRS’s mission continues  then IRS will be unable to  either execute on its core  mission or implement the  required changes in a  complete, accurate, timely  and/or efficient manner.
Executive Steering  Committee in place to  comprehensively evaluate  upcoming events and  legislation that impacts filing  season looking holistically at  people, process and  technology for Filing Season  2015.  3.  Significant external partner  3.  Not specific – Dialogue  relationship to socialize  upcoming changes and  robust communication  strategy.  4.  Established quantitative and  qualitative performance  measures that support and  reinforce the achievement of  the IRS mission and overall  strategic goals.  5.  FATCA implementation -  5.  Not specific – Monitoring  oversight provided by OPCI.
IRS risk description  If service delivery options  are not evaluated and  adjusted to maximize return  on diminishing resources  then mission creep and  scope expansion may  impact ability to achieve  core mission.
Approach - W&I Service  Delivery Approach to  evaluate services to ensure  delivery of core service and  to drive service to most  efficient delivery method  including evaluation of trade- off analysis and what to  “stop doing.”  2.  Significant external partner  2.  Not specific – Dialogue  relationship to socialize  upcoming changes and  robust communication  strategy.  3.  Established quantitative and  qualitative performance  measures that support and  reinforce the achievement of  the IRS mission and overall  strategic goals.  4.  Service On Demand project  to evaluate service delivery  channels moving forward.
4.
section_title: Appendix X: Prior GAO Filing Season Recommendations Implemented by IRS
paragraphs: Since 2010, we have issued seven reports on various aspects of IRS’s  filing season operations. These reports included 20 recommendations for  IRS to improve filing season operations, become more efficient, and  provide taxpayers with better customer service. Listed below are the six  recommendations that IRS has implemented.
section_title: Appendix XI: Prior Filing Season-Related GAO Recommendations That Remain Open
paragraphs: Since 2010, we have issued seven reports on various aspects of IRS’s  filing season operations. These reports included 20 recommendations for  IRS to improve filing season operations, become more efficient, and  provide taxpayers with better customer service. IRS has not yet  implemented 14 of the recommendations. Eight of these  recommendations are described in Table 7 below, and we discuss the  other six recommendations to improve IRS’s web-related services in  appendix XII. As shown in table 7, IRS agreed with three of these  recommendations, disagreed with two, and has taken certain actions in  regard to the three with which it neither agreed nor disagreed.
section_title: Appendix XII: Prior Filing-Season Related GAO Recommendations Related to Improving Web Services Remaining Open
paragraphs: Six of the 14 open recommendations relate to improving web services.  Specifically, we recommended that IRS should develop a long-term  strategy to improve web services provided to taxpayers. We include these  separately because we were subsequently asked to review IRS efforts to  offer more interactive web services. IRS agreed with four of these  recommendations, partially agreed with developing business cases  because it believes other criteria should be considered, and did not take a  position on establishing numerical measures. These six unimplemented  recommendations are listed in table 8.
section_title: Appendix XIII: Matters for Congressional Consideration for Enhanced Math Error Authority
paragraphs: For almost a century, Congress has been expanding IRS’s math error  authority (MEA) on a case-by-case basis. Currently, there are 13  situations where IRS can use MEA to make corrections to tax returns.  Using MEA can save time and money for taxpayers and can reduce the  need for audits to correct taxpayer errors. Since 2008, we have raised  five matters for the Congress to consider providing IRS with additional  MEA authority. The Congress has enacted one and has not yet acted on  four of them.
section_title: Appendix XIV: Comments from the Internal Revenue Service
section_title: Appendix XV: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments
subsections: section_title: GAO Contact:
section_title: Staff Acknowledgments:
paragraphs: In addition to the individual named above, Joanna Stamatiades, Assistant  Director; LaKeshia Allen-Horner; Jehan Chase; Robert Gebhart; George  Guttman; Kirsten Lauber; Natalie Maddox; Mark Ryan; Erin Saunders- Rath; Angela Smith; and Elwood White made key contributions to this  report.