It is hard to imagine the IRS Direct e-File Program operating seamlessly with the complexity of the current U.S. tax system. Instead, lawmakers should first address the more fundamental problem that causes taxpayer frustration: our highly complicated tax code.
If your state issued tax rebates last year, you might have to pay federal income tax on the rebate you received. Maybe. Who knows? Unfortunately, not the IRS—at least not yet.
A combination of long-standing IRS operational deficiencies, the agency’s temporary closure due to the pandemic, and the now-expired pandemic relief produced a perfect recipe for a paper backlog.
The Inflation Reduction Act focused more on enforcement and hiring more auditors rather than programs that make it easier for taxpayers to comply with the code and the IRS to administer it.
In a pattern that has become all too common in recent decades, the newly enacted Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) added yet another layer of complexity to an already complex and burdensome federal tax code.
Efforts to improve the taxpayer experience should focus on the IRS’s operations and include structural improvements to the tax code.
As the deadline for tax filing nears, the IRS faces scrutiny for its backlog of returns, inaccessible taxpayer service, and delays in issuing certain refunds.
The National Taxpayer Advocate argued the IRS telephone service “was the worst it has ever been” in 2021, with an answer rate of about 11 percent.
Return-free filing could reduce compliance costs for many taxpayers, but would only be as good as the system it is administrating.
A rosy revenue outlook has allowed Ohio to join eight other states in providing tax relief this legislative session. The Ohio legislature agreed on a two-year budget, which includes individual income tax cuts.