The Internal Revenue Service just released its publication called “Strategic Plan FY 2018 – 2022. You can read their complete publication here.
This five-year plan generally outlines their goals for improving services for taxpayers and administration of U.s tax law over the next five years.
According to their website, the IRS Strategic Plan for each of the five fiscal years “is a roadmap to guide IRS operations and to meet the changing needs and expectations of our nation’s taxpayers and tax professionals who serve them.”
“The Strategic Planning team within the Chief Financial Office refined and documented years of work in setting the IRS vision and strategy into this FY2018-2022 Strategic Plan. This plan was developed through a deliberate and inclusive process, which engaged all IRS employees, leaders, advisory groups and key stakeholders, including the Department of the Treasury. We designed this plan to allow employees to see their contribution to the IRS mission, and to set forth key goals to guide our agency over the next four years.
Please direct all questions and comments to CFO.Strategic. Planning@IRS.gov
In large part, this new plan is the result of the Republican’s and President Trump’s recent Tax Cuts and Job Act.
The IRS administers the tax system that funds our nation. We work to make it easier for taxpayers to understand and meet their tax obligations, and we enforce the tax laws to ensure fairness for all. The IRS’s highest priority is implementing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (Public Law 115-97), the most significant revision of the U.S. tax code in more than 30 years. Administering the new law will require extensive implementation work in calendar years 2018 and 2019.
Efforts to implement the new legislation are already underway, and the IRS is providing taxpayers and practitioners with information to address new tax compliance obligations timely and accurately. The IRS expects to publish additional guidance as we continue to analyze how the new law affects taxpayers.
David J. Kautter, the IRS Acting Commissioner tells us in his message in the plan’s opening page:
Our five-year Strategic Plan focuses on six goals that will help drive continued improvements in the customer experience. We’ll continue to provide, expand and improve service where, when and how taxpayers and tax professionals want and expect it. We’re modernizing our approach to make taxpayers’ experiences similar to the way they interact with private sector institutions. We’re working toward providing a wide array of electronic tax account options, while improving service over the phone and face-to-face.
We’ll continue to innovate on approaches to address our challenges using public-private partnerships. Our continued collaboration with state tax agencies, the tax industry and other stakeholders through the Security Summit, an annual meeting of the tax community focused on security, will help us sustain progress in combating identity theft.
Our diverse workforce is integral to our success. As we confront the challenges of the future, we’ll continue to develop top talent with in-demand skillsets like data analytics and cybersecurity. With a large portion of our workforce retirement-eligible, we’ll also focus on knowledge transfer and succession planning to preserve our institutional excellence.
The new strategic plan focuses on six goals to help improve customer service:
- Empower and enable all taxpayers to meet their tax obligations.
- Protect the integrity of the tax system by encouraging compliance through administering and enforcing the tax code.
- Collaborate with external partners proactively to improve tax administration.
- Cultivate a well-equipped, diverse, flexible and engaged workforce.
- Advance data access, usability and analytics to inform decision-making and improve operational outcomes.
- Drive increased agility, efficiency, effectiveness and security in IRS operations.
Great. But, will somebody answer the damn phone?
