9.6 TAXPAYER EXPERIENCE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

This Section includes additional information including the Taxpayer Experience Strategy strategic goals, capability groups and specific capabilities.

Comprehensive Taxpayer Experience Framework

Goals, Objectives, and Capability Descriptions

Core Principles of the Comprehensive Taxpayer Experience Framework:

1. Put Taxpayers First

2. Facilitate Compliance and Ensure Fairness

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Please note that the asterisks indicate “key capabilities” that are featured in the Taxpayer Experience.

Capability Group: Provide Proactive Outreach and Education

�� Year-Round Communications: Communicate to taxpayers tax law changes, requirements, guidance and impacts as well as send reminders during pre-filing, filing, and post filing activities (e.g�, student aid and charity). �� Share Success Stories: Showcase IRS successes through various communication channels. �� Social Media Strategy:* Use multiple social media platforms to share IRS news and educational updates that are customized based on demographics and other taxpayer behavioral information. Social media will be used to engage taxpayers, guide them to the appropriate channel for service and communicate in a voice and style consistent with the respective platform.

• Diversity: Integrate a diverse array of taxpayers into communications.

• Life Event-Specific Content: Create content specific to taxpayer life events (first

employment, marriage, retirement).

• Journey Mappings: Develop use cases and focus on types of taxpayer’s

experiences. �� Announce Issue Campaigns: Proactively publicize common issues (e.g., noncompliance).

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5. Personalized Tax Updates:* Through online accounts, allow taxpayers to opt in to receive personalized notifications about changes to their tax situation, filing reminders or status updates for refunds, audits, and payments. Further developing online accounts, increasing digital correspondence and providing more electronic reminders and notices will help ensure taxpayers have up-to-date information to comply with their tax obligations.

   • Personalized Information: Provide taxpayer notices and education related to their

individual tax status or circumstances. Allow taxpayer to save and use information specific to their personal situation.

• Tax Health Check: Leverage data to notify taxpayers of specific tax campaigns and

proactive alerts to potential non-compliance e.g. EITC, withholding changes, updates to tax calculators, identify upcoming status changes that may impact taxpayer filing. 6. Service Channel Awareness: Provide taxpayers with information on what service tools are available to them and how to access them. Capability Group: Use Language Taxpayers Understand

7. Plain Language Communications:* Redesign notices and standardize correspondence across the agency to simplify the format, educate and provide information to taxpayers in a manner that is easy to read and eliminate unnecessary legal language. Provide clear information and plain instructions to the taxpayers about why they are receiving the communication from us, and what actions they need to take. This may also include instructions for using online accounts for more detailed account information.
8. Improve Counsel Guidance: Provide timely Counsel guidance in plain language.
9. Simplified Notices and Correspondence:* Analyze and use data to identify necessary language translations for our notices and correspondence. Use data to improve the effectiveness of our communications in various taxpayer segments.
10. Multi-Language Communications: Expand multi-language options for IRS communication channels and correspondence (e.g. forms, pubs, notices, letters, social media, emails, web content, phone, and web chat).

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Please note that the asterisks indicate “key capabilities” that are featured in the Taxpayer Experience.

Capability Group: Reach Underserved Segments

11. Multilingual Strategy:* Develop customized strategies based on focused research that will improve outreach, education, communications, and services to support taxpayers with limited English.

    • Translate Forms, Publications and Notices: Increase the languages available for

most widely used forms, publications and notices.

• Digitally Aided Translation and Interpretation: Translate documents and phone

conversations to other languages.

• Recruitment: Increase incentives for prospective bilingual / multilingual employees’

and specify the languages we are looking for during hiring.

• Leverage Employee Multi-lingual Skills: Incentivize employees to be certified as

multi-lingual and recruit these employees to provide multi-lingual assistance and services.

• Translation App: Enable better communication between field employees and taxpayers in their preferred language using a new translation application for mobile devices.

12. Armed Forces Strategy: Develop customized strategies based on focused research that will improve outreach, education, communications, and services to support active duty Armed Forces, reservist, and veteran taxpayer’s needs. Leverage partnerships and initiatives like W&I’s ‘adopt-a-base’ to expand access to service.

13. International Strategy:* Develop customized strategies based on focused research that will improve outreach, education, communications, and services to support International taxpayers’ needs. Create new mechanisms and channels to provide service and communication options for individual and business taxpayers operating internationally.

    • International Online Account Authentication: Expand online account

authentication to international taxpayers to provide access to additional self-service channels including the expanded digital tools and seamless experience described above.

• Focused Promotion of IRS eFile: Continue promoting IRS eFile to increase

electronic filing, expedite the filing process and reduce errors, ultimately improving the taxpayer experience for international taxpayers.

• Virtual Face-to-Face: Provide the ability for taxpayers to have a scheduled video

chat with an IRS employee, using computer, tablet or mobile phone.

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• Virtual Discussion Forums: Facilitate a new virtual discussion forum where

taxpayers can initiate discussions around filing requirements, rules, procedures and other topics. The forums will provide a moderated outlet for asking questions and sharing answers. International taxpayers will also have the ability to be a part of virtual one-on-one or group conference via the forums. 14. Native American Strategy: Develop customized strategies based on focused research that will improve outreach, education, communications and services to support Native American taxpayer’s needs. 15. Persons with Disabilities: Develop customized strategies based on focused research that will improve outreach, education, communications and services to support taxpayers with disabilities.

• Expanding Adaptive Services: Braille, sign language and other adaptive

technologies. 16. Elderly Strategy: Develop customized strategies based on focused research that will improve outreach, education, communications and services to support elderly taxpayer’s needs. 17. Low-Income Strategy: Develop customized strategies based on focused research that will improve outreach, education, communications and services to support low-income taxpayer’s needs. 18. Rural Strategy: Develop customized strategies based on focused research that will improve outreach, education, communications and services to support rural taxpayer’s needs. Capability Group: Leverage Taxpayer Feedback

19. Continuous Feedback Loop: Expand avenues to collect real-time feedback from taxpayers as they interact with all service channels to improve IRS products and services including:

    • Internal and External Feedback Mechanisms

    • All phone calls, including those that do not result in Assistor Support

    • Website

    • Online Applications (Online Account, Tax Professional Online Account)

    • IRS2GO Mobile App

    • Examinations

    • Collections

    • Appeals

    • Litigation

20. Expand and Enhance Survey Capabilities: Give all taxpayer segments the opportunity to communicate feedback in real time via surveys on all IRS service channels to align with PMA CAP CX Goal.

21. Employ Taxpayer-Centric Design: Develop or leverage group(s) of volunteer taxpayers (e.g., Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP)) to review all products and services at the idea, prototype, development, and test stages to provide usability and adoption feedback.

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22. Leverage Taxpayer Advisory Panels: Expand the engagement and use of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP) or create new taxpayer advisory panels to collect taxpayer feedback on new and enhanced IRS products and services.

Please note that the asterisks indicate “key capabilities” that are featured in the Taxpayer Experience.

Capability Group: Expand Federal Partnerships

23. Co-Located Federal Government Services:* Partner with other federal agencies to allow the IRS to provide co-located services (e.g., post offices, U.S. embassies, etc.). These partnerships could apply to both service and compliance interactions.

24. Data Sharing Opportunities:* Ensure secure and authorized information-sharing with federal and state agencies, Security Summit participants and other third parties within the boundaries of the established law to allow us to incorporate new sources of information from a secure network to drive enforcement decisions, combat identify theft and improve the taxpayer experience.

25. Federated Authentication: Simplify identity proofing and authentication for taxpayers by unifying authentication across more agencies.

26. Leverage Customer Service Best Practices: Work with our partners to develop and share customer service research and best practices.

27. Leverage Community Outreach Best Practices:* Work with our partners to benefit from their experience in developing community partnerships, such as joining with other agencies to learn how they access hard-to-reach communities. Capability Group: Expand Community Presence and Industry Partnerships

28. Expand VITA and TCE Partnership:* Expand and promote the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and Taxpayer Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) programs including geographic presence, availability (dates which they are open), scope of supported issues and taxpayers that qualify.

29. Tax Education in Schools: Partner with education institutions to develop, deliver, and promote tax education using tools like the Understanding Taxes Simulator.

30. Expanding Community Presence:* Cultivate trusted relationships with local leaders, community centers, cultural and faith communities and organizations and chambers of commerce to help us provide outreach, education and other services. This collaboration will also help us better reach populations that may be underserved or under-represented.

31. Building and Expanding Trusted Stakeholder Network:* Use existing partnerships and develop new ones to improve information-sharing between organizations and collaborate on solving common problems.

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32. Expand LITC Partnerships: Expand and build partnership with LITC to find new and better way to serve Low Income Taxpayers. Capability Group: Improve IRS Image

33. Improve Image: Improve the perception of the IRS by highlighting both taxpayer service and enforcement activities.

34. Establish Broader Organizational Goals and Metrics: Develop measures that span across the organization.

35. Customer Service Tied to Performance Measures: Implement additional executive, management and employee performance measures tied to taxpayer experience outcomes.

36. Celebrate and Award Excellent Customer Service: Create additional program that recognizes and awards excellent customer service. Share these stories both internally and externally.

37. Share Improvements Publicly: Share improvements with the public and explain what they mean for the taxpayer experience.

38. Raise Public Awareness of CI Outcomes: Expand communications and public awareness of criminal investigation cases to demonstrate a fair and just tax system.

Please note that the asterisks indicate “key capabilities” that are featured in the Taxpayer Experience.

Capability Group: Enhance Self Service

39. Improve Search-Driven Website: Use search-optimized content and natural language processing (NLP) to understand questions framed by taxpayers.
40. Enhanced FAQ Page: Leverage taxpayer data to personalize FAQ recommendations.
41. Forms Database: Improve interface for locating forms with robust search and tags.
42. Forms Engine: Implement technology on IRS.gov that recommends and locates applicable forms and publications for the taxpayer.
43. Mobile Phone Push Notifications: Provide opt-in mobile phone push notifications from the IRS for MeF return filing, “Where’s My Refund,” ECM case status, etc.
44. IRS2GO Full-Functionality of Online Account: Increase the functionality of Online Account through the IRS2GO app.

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45. Change Account Information (“Self-Correct Entity”):* Allow taxpayers to update their contact information and other key details.

46. Taxpayer View History:* Allow taxpayers to see information about their tax histories (e.g. refunds, payments received, amounts owed, returns filed, etc.) through their online accounts to ensure transparency and accessibility of records.

47. Digital Amended Returns: Allow taxpayers to amend their returns online after receiving notifications on required updates or errors; possibly align with digital notices with click-tocorrect capabilities.

48. Improve Online Installment Agreements: Provide taxpayers with an improved mechanism for setting up a payment plan they are eligible for within their Online Account.

49. Integrate Refund Tracking: Integrate “Where’s My Refund” into online accounts and IRS2GO app.

50. Issue Resolution Tracking: Create an automated tool that provides current status and next steps of any issue or case.

51. Link a Bank Account: Enable taxpayers to link their bank accounts to their Online Account giving them the ability to seamlessly send or receive money from their checking or savings account.

52. Expand Payment Options: Provide taxpayers, businesses and tax professionals the ability to make payments through all channels including telephone, online accounts, mobile apps and walk-in assistance. Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) and credit and debit cards interactions will remain available as well.

53. Expand Electronic Distribution of Refunds: Add more options to deliver tax refunds electronically with the goal of eliminating paper checks.

54. Digital Notifications:* Generate customized taxpayer notices and letters accessible through online accounts. Taxpayers will be able to opt in to receive personalized notifications about changes to their tax situation, payment reminders and status updates on refunds or audits.

55. Subscription Service to Opt-In to Receive Notifications: Allow taxpayer to enable and receive notifications to their email account and/or mobile devices.

56. Connection to Tax Pro Account: Allow taxpayers to grant accountants, tax preparers and other third parties access to their Online Account. Capability Group: Enhance Assisted Services

57. Wait Time Transparency:* Provides taxpayers estimated wait times to inform their decision on whether to remain on hold, opt for a call back or seek information on IRS.gov.

58. Expand Automated Callback:* Allows taxpayers to provide their telephone number and opt for an IRS employee to call them back instead of waiting on hold.

59. Improved Menu System and “Phone Tree”: Provide taxpayers with an easy to use phone tree including simplified menu options.

60. Human Phone Voice (for IVR Phone Menu System): Use an AI representative to enable a more consistent, authentic and less robotic automated system with greater agility to make changes.

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61. Language Options for Phoneline: Offer easily accessible multi-language options to callers.

62. Improved Service on Practitioner Priority Line: Monitor and add resources as necessary to improve service at peak times.

63. Voice Bot: Leverage AI solutions to recognize human language to provide solutions and digital telephonic assistance.

64. Notice Access: Provide employees the ability to see all notices for the taxpayer they are assisting.

65. Expand Digital Kiosk: Provide access to IRS Online Self-Service Tools at all TACs, federal buildings and partners:

    • Live Assistor: Passive staffing (e.g. receptionist) to handle questions if needed,

video conference capability.

• In-Person Authentication: Allow in-person authentication in cases where online

authentication is unsuccessful.

• Printer Connection: Enable printer connection for printing of transcripts, notices,

etc.

• Credit Card Payments: Accept credit card payments with no fees.

66. Virtual Face-to-Face: Provide the ability for taxpayers to have a scheduled video chat with an IRS employee, using computer, tablet, or mobile phone.

67. Click to Call-VOIP: Create the ability for a taxpayer that is having difficulty resolving an issue in the web environment to connect to an IRS employee with one click.

68. Counsel Settlement Day: Invite Appeals, Collection and TAS to provide one stop resolution for taxpayers. Capability Group: New Service Channels

69. Tax Professional Online Account:* Provide online accounts for tax professionals, which allow eligible representatives to access client information and services.

    • Add Authorization and POA/Fully Digital CAF: Enable e-Signature for real-time

approval of Authorization and POA.

• Update/Remove Authorization and POA: Create the ability to add and remove

client authorizations and POA.

• List of Clients with Access to OLA: Develop an aggregated list of clients that a POA has authorization to represent during a specified tax period.

  • Access to Taxpayer Notices History: Allow tax professionals to view all client

notices.

• Practitioner Premium Access: Offer live chat, digital request for callback and other

communication tools.

• Act on Behalf of Client: Enable Tax Pros to view information and take any actions

that their clients can take in their individual OLA. 70. Digital Newsroom: Develop a digital newsroom that provides regular updates about legislative and tax code changes to tax pros. This newsroom will enable IRS partners to anticipate and answer taxpayer questions in a way that is consistent with IRS language and expectations.

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71. APIs for Third Parties: Develop capability for third parties (e.g., software providers) to interface and share data with IRS such as:

    • Refund Status: Push notification from “Where’s My Refund”

    • Realtime Transcript Access: e-Signature for authorization for a new taxpayer client

built-in

• Case Status: Push notification from ECM

• Payment API: Leverage payment options for the taxpayer

72. Business Online Account: Provide online accounts and services for businesses. Capability Group: Enable Omnichannel Experience

73. Concierge Navigation Support:* Gives taxpayer-facing IRS employees the ability to provide taxpayers with the information they need or personally connect them with a subject matter expert who can assist. Each employee will receive calls and handle contacts based on the nature of the issue identified in the web chat, through topic-based routing on the phone or during casework contacts. The employee will resolve all issues within the scope of their training and expertise. If the initial employee cannot provide the assistance the taxpayer is looking for, the employee will smoothly transition the taxpayer to a subject matter expert with the knowledge and authority to handle the type of taxpayer assistance required.

74. Assistor-Powered Chat: Expand the ability for an employee to web chat with taxpayers.

75. Web and Mobile Video Chat: Launch a virtual face-to-face video chat option with IRS employees to simulate an in-person appointment for those that require a human touch point but are unable to or prefer not to meet in person.

76. Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Powered Informational Web Chat (Virtual Assistance):* Allows for an AI-powered chat bot to attempt to answer questions or direct the taxpayer to helpful information on IRS.gov or to their online account based on a taxpayer’s browsing preferences on IRS.gov. Chat bots will also be able to connect taxpayers to an IRS assistor for a web chat or voice call. The chatbot will improve over time as the knowledge base expands and more taxpayer experience feedback becomes available. If the chatbot cannot resolve a taxpayer’s issue, contact routing will guide the taxpayer to live support from an IRS employee.

77. AI Engages IRS Assistor: Alert IRS employees and launch web chat with taxpayers when an issue is not resolved by chat bot.

78. AI-Powered Transactional Chat: Bot supports the taxpayer in performing tasks such as making payments, filling out forms, scheduling callbacks, schedule virtual or face-to-face appointments.

79. AI-Powered Digital Appointments:* Allows taxpayers to speak with an assistor or schedule an appointment if the chatbot is unable to resolve a taxpayer’s issue. Taxpayers will also be able to schedule AI-Powered appointments with employees in other IRS organizations, like exam and collection. The chatbot will be able to determine if an assistor is needed and either “introduce” the caller to an assistor or schedule an appointment with an employee for a later time. The appointment could be with a service or compliance employee and can be in-person, telephonic, or via secure video chat.

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80. Virtual Assistant Optimized Content: Make content from IRS.gov searchable by Virtual Assistants (VAs) like Alexa, Siri, or Cortana using artificial intelligence. Taxpayers would be able to ask the VA their tax questions and it would use natural language processing (NLP) and AI to answer questions based on information from IRS.gov.
81. Seamless Phone Assistor Transfer: Case details and conversation history travel with the taxpayer from employee to employee as they are transferred to enable seamless phone transfers.
82. Enhanced Tiered Support: Provide tiered levels of support and training. Tier two employees address more complicated out of scope questions during filing season. Tier three employees are subject matter experts ready to address more difficult or unique taxpayer questions. Skill codes identify SMEs by topic.
83. Expand Use of Scheduling Tool: Provide all employees with the ability to make an appointment for the taxpayer with another employee/SME.

Please note that the asterisks indicate “key capabilities” that are featured in the Taxpayer Experience.

Capability Group: Expand Digital Filing

84. Promote Free File: Promote the free file program in LITCs, TACs, community centers, schools, and other community presence expansion efforts.

85. Digitize All Tax Forms: Continuously increase toward goal that all forms are digital.

86. Expand eFile options: Further expand the opportunity for taxpayers to file forms electronically.

87. Digital Signatures:* Allow authenticated individual taxpayers and representatives to submit electronic signatures via online accounts.

88. Tax Credit Estimator: Develop a calculator tool to determine which tax credits taxpayers qualify for and estimate what amount of credit taxpayers might expect (e.g., Digital versions of Schedule R, Schedule 8812, Schedule H, or other Schedules). Capability Group: Resolve Issue Timely

89. Secure Document Exchange:* Allow taxpayers, businesses, tax professionals and IRS employees to securely upload and access documents in a centralized repository.

90. Errors, Next Steps and POC Addition: Provide an explanation for the correspondence or audit with clear actions for taxpayer to follow, as well as resources if the taxpayer needs help, including a designated point of contact.

91. Confirmation Number/Barcode on Notices: All notices include a confirmation number linked to the taxpayer’s case file to speed up the assistance process and a QR code that can be scanned to access additional information about the circumstance that generated the notice.

92. Including Relevant Links: Include specific links to relevant online resources in all IRS electronic notices.

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93. Reduce Time Between Filing and Audit: Reduce the length of time between when a taxpayer files and if they are audited.

94. Secure One-Way Messaging: Notify taxpayers of upcoming deadlines, filing errors, and balance due situations. Taxpayers would receive an email prompting them to log in to their Online Account to review the new messages.

95. Secure Two-Way Messaging:* Give taxpayers the ability to communicate with IRS employees through their online accounts.

96. Consistent Audit Steps for Same Issue: Ensure the taxpayer gets consistent service across audits.

97. Provide Account Managers to Large Businesses: Provide a dedicated account manager for large business taxpayers or dedicated access points for general service inquiries.

98. New Processes to Achieve Early Tax Certainty: Develop processes for the IRS to provide large businesses earlier tax certainty.

    • Create additional opportunities for taxpayers from large business to resolve

compliance issues outside the audit process. Send closing letters/messages when audit complete, similar to estate tax audits. 99. Improve Issue Routing: Streamline the assignment and routing of issues to eliminate gaps in the IRS process 100. Post-File Issue Resolution Program: Develop processes for large business to resolve issues outside of the audit process.

Please note that the asterisks indicate “key capabilities” that are featured in the Taxpayer Experience.

Capability Group: Enhance Employee Training ⁵⁰

101. Training on Organizational Awareness: All employees should be given initial and periodic organizational training to reduce the knowledge gap as to what goes on in different organizational units.

50 These are capabilities specifically identified during listening sessions where we heard that focused training is needed in support of pursuing a better taxpayer experience. These capabilities are also included as a part of our overall Training Strategy detailed in Section 5 of this Report.

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102. Training Tied to Career Paths: Align training opportunities and career goals to empower employees to advance in their career.
103. “People First” Training: Train employees to incorporate plain language, civility and empathy when speaking with taxpayers.
104. Employee Online Forum: Create collaborative digital platform to share best practices and answers to both common and unique problems. Employees can ask questions and seek answers from other IRS colleagues, and solicit knowledge across the organization leading to improved knowledge management across the IRS.
105. Organization Liaisons to Discuss Common Problems: Establish subject matter experts that represent parts of the IRS and collaborate to resolve internal process and procedural issues as well as taxpayer issues (e.g. expand W&I’s CEWS system).
106. Internal Concierge Service: Create internal concierge service to help guide employees to the appropriate resource in the IRS (e.g. Ask Audrey concept).

Please note that the asterisks indicate “key capabilities” that are featured in the Taxpayer Experience.

Capability Group: Provide Concierge Service

107. 360 Degree View of Taxpayer Accounts:* Provides IRS employees with a global view of each taxpayer account and gives them access to taxpayer records in real-time, including interaction history, appointment schedules, etc. This will be available through an ECM system.
108. Ability for Two Assistors to View Info When Transferring Taxpayer: Ability for IRS employees to see real-time taxpayer interactions that flow with them as they move from one-channel to another, including transfers.
109. Accessible Analytics Reports on Taxpayers: Data on taxpayers is accessible for reporting. Employees can create customized, cross-functional reports for assisting and improving their taxpayer service.
110. AI-Powered Employee Assistant:* Supports IRS employees when answering taxpayers questions with an AI-powered knowledge base that will make suggestions based on a taxpayers experience, questions or pages visited on IRS.gov.
111. Robust Analytics on Digital Interactions: Track taxpayer interactions from IRS.gov to online accounts to reveal taxpayer behavior online, where they engage, and where they disengage. Will inform Outreach content strategy.

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112. Record Entire Taxpayer Experience for Analysis: Accumulate the data to provide an accurate representation of the entire taxpayer experience and then use the analysis to keep improving customer service.
113. Knowledge Base: Provide an expansive knowledge base for IRS employees, which will include videos, interactive learning, guidance and best practices (could tie to AI Employee Assistant).
114. Resolution Guides: Employees have access to “Micro Trainings” and interactive guided resolution tours to help taxpayers resolve specific issues.

Please note that the asterisks indicate “key capabilities” that are featured in the Taxpayer Experience.

Capability Group: Simplify Internal Processes and Procedures

115. Improve the Clarity and Usability of Internal Guidance: Review and revise IRMs to use plain language and eliminate IRM-to-IRM conflicts.

     • Re-engineer the IRM: Conduct an analysis to identify opportunities and establish

improved methods for how the IRM is developed, updated and distributed.

• Remove Inconsistencies and Conflicts: Review all IRMs end-to-end and remove

inconsistencies and conflicts that inhibit a seamless taxpayer experience.

• Centralize and Streamline IRM Access and Publication: Modify Publishing

Processes to Allow for More Rapid Updates/Corrections.

• Centralize IRM Feedback Process: Develop an IRM feedback process allowing transparency and responsiveness.

  • Internal Plain Language Communications: Establish organizational plain language

reviewers to ensure content is clear and understandable.

• I dentify SMEs/Authors: Identify SMEs and Authors internally to facilitate making

modifications when necessary. 116. Streamline New Changes to Pubs, Letters, Notice, and Forms: Create more agility in ability to change pubs, letters, notices and forms. Capability Group: Increase Employee Authority to Resolve Issues

117. Redesign Position Descriptions and Core Job Elements for Workforce: Update position descriptions and core job elements to embrace taxpayer first and emphasize earliest resolution of issues.
118. Adjust Quality Review Process: Currently some employees get quality errors for answering out of scope questions and providing service that is provided by another segment of the organization. Shift to rewarding employees for resolving taxpayer issues rather than penalizing them.

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119. Issue De-Escalation Process: Create informal review process for taxpayers to pursue before taking next steps in a formal process (e.g., exam/appeals). Capability Group: Provide Clear Point of Escalation and Resolution to Taxpayer

120. Dispute Resolution Process: Identify IRS employees that have the capability and authority to resolve any taxpayer issue before going to Appeals or Taxpayer Advocate Service.

121. Clear Identification of SMEs to Escalate Issues: Provide a clear process of where and who to route cases to if there is an issue.

122. Reimplement Problem Resolution Day: Create specific days during which taxpayers can bring in (virtually or in person) complex, multifunctional issues. IRS will have a set of SMEs available in person or virtually to resolve issues collaboratively in real time. Capability Group: Improved Data Analytics

123. Capturing a Comprehensive Set of Data Assets:* Advance data access, usability, and governance to inform decision making and improve operational outcomes across the enterprise. To make this happen, the IRS will iteratively expand its data environment, to include making data more readily accessible through transition from paper to digital environment, allowing analysts to solve data-driven problems faster. This comprehensive data repository will be built on fundamental data collection principles of gathering, defining, perfecting, and storing information. This will inform better compliance enforcement decisions, which will in turn reduce the burden on compliant taxpayers and direct IRS enforcement resources more strategically.

124. Employing Advanced Data Analytics:* Analyze behavioral research and other data to better identify and separate taxpayers who are trying to comply from those who are intentionally violating our tax laws, minimizing compliance contacts where direct enforcement activity wouldn’t be necessary. This will also help us avoid placing compliant taxpayers into compliance treatments while enhancing detection of non-compliant taxpayers so we can respond appropriately to encourage compliant behavior.

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The following enablers list the resources necessary to implement the Taxpayer Experience Strategy and ensure success:

• Funding: Costing will be reflected in the report at various level of detail and appropriation

requests will reflect specific capabilities and initiatives needed to advance the Taxpayer Experience Strategy. Changes to the current appropriation process would facilitate implementation of capabilities that extend beyond a single fiscal year and bridge across service enforcement and support areas.

• Culture Transformation: As IRS has a mission culture in some cases this has resulted

in siloed operation and a lack of enterprise-wide strategies. Implementing Taxpayer Experience Strategy, Training Strategy, and necessary changes to organizational structure will require significant change leadership.

• Policy Changes such as IRM Changes: Many of the aspects of the strategy will

require policy and procedural changes. We have also identified an opportunity for the agency to become nimbler in adopting changes to policy and procedure.

• Organizational Redesign: Several components of the Taxpayer Experience Strategy

will only be effective when coupled with organizational change details discussed in the Organizational Redesign Section.

• Training: There are training aspects to all components of the Taxpayer Experience

Strategy. Training Strategy is discussed in detail in the report.

• Hiring and Talent: The IRS must identify and develop/acquire appropriate staffing resources to fill the gaps identified in the Taxpayer Experience Strategy.

  • e-Signature

  • Content Management Platform (UNS CCSD Customer Contact Center)

  • Agile Development

  • Human Centered Design

  • Enterprise Case Management (ECM)

  • Digital Communications Platform

  • Authorization Framework

  • API Platform

  • Full Integration of Data for Digital Applications

  • Central Data Repository

  • Robotics Process Automation

  • Cloud Execution

  • Business Process Re-engineering

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Updating appropriate IRM Sections will include the following components:

1. Review capabilities, priorities and organizational changes in the Taxpayer Experience and Training Strategies
2. Coordinate work to ensure all relevant IRM Sections are identified for revisions and updates
3. Consult with executives, subject matter experts and appropriate stakeholders on necessary program changes for required IRM Sections
4. Reach agreement with all parties on detailed procedural, program, or operational changes associated TFA capabilities, priorities and organizational changes
5. Develop necessary content, including interim guidance, for required IRM Sections
6. Write, revise and edit the new content following established plain language standards
7. Ensure new content aligns and does not create conflicting guidance
8. Ensure all revised IRM Sections contain management and internal controls
9. Update IRM Section dates to notate revised content
10. Ensure all clearance, approval and publishing activities are successfully completed

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