of course it can. here are five recommendations.
by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research
in 2021, the irs rolled out its tax pro account program, a relatively quick response to the complications brought down by covid-19, not to mention the years of dwindling service brought down by congressional budget cuts.
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the purpose of tax pro accounts is to allow practitioners to perform basic services online for their clients.
unfortunately, the services enabled by the program were and still are rather limited. many of the services that individual taxpayers themselves can access online are not available to their tax accountants.
while tax pro enables tax practitioners to retrieve certain authorizations and clients’ tax accounts, it does not offer such basics as secure messaging, document upload and chatbots.
to be truly useful
for tax pro accounts to be truly useful, it should allow practitioners to:
- view all clients’ online accounts through their tax pro account portal;
- view all changes and new information posted in the taxpayer’s account;
- view all notices and letters mailed to the taxpayer;
- view the status of pending refunds and requests;
- view information on digital payment options;
- upload requested documents relating to notices or correspondence on a tax issue; and
- send messages to an irs employee working the client’s case.
lack of a hub
the limited functionality of tax pro accounts is reflective of a similar problem that extends across online irs services – a lack of a hub where taxpayers can click forward to whatever they need to do.
individual taxpayers can access such tools as
- voicebots to resolve inquiries,
- sending and receiving secure messages,
- uploading certain documents,
- viewing basic account information,
- clarifying obvious questions through where’s my refund? and where’s my amended return?, and
- online accounts.
unfortunately, these and other services all require separate logins and don’t allow much if any crossover. the result is confusion, frustration, exasperation, disappointment, anger and wasted time. president biden recently referred to that wasted time as a “time tax” generated by the unwieldy tax code and irs inefficiencies.
wouldn’t it be nice if all these tools and options could be accessed at one central hub for each taxpayer, maybe even linked to their tax practitioner’s tax pro account?
such a dream is not beyond the reach of technology.
national taxpayer advocate erin m. collins has commended the irs for its gradual updates to online accounts but says that it could still install improvements.
taxpayers have been increasingly logging in to their accounts, but they still don’t use them much. in 2022, 63 percent more taxpayers – “unique visitors” – accessed their accounts than in 2021. but 74 percent of them didn’t complete any actions other than viewing basic account information.
- only 19 percent viewed an account transcript.
- only 5.2 percent made some kind of payment.
- only 0.7 percent set up a payment plan.
still no bola
those numbers could be substantially higher – which means lower backlogs and bottlenecks elsewhere – if a) taxpayers could access more services through their accounts, b) they knew what they can do with an account and c) they were informed of recent upgrades to the account system.
the nta also slapped the irs on the wrist for not expediting implementation of its planned business online account (bola). the irs blames the delay on complexity, budget and resources. it hopes to roll out an early version in the current fiscal year, but it will only allow business taxpayers to view and manage tax record authorizations related to the income verification express service.
once funding from the inflation reduction act arrives, the irs will accelerate deployment of additional functions, such as reminders for upcoming tax returns, information on due dates, payment options and document uploading. until a more robust bola system is implemented, businesses are unlikely to make much use of it.
recommendations
the nta made five related recommendations to the irs:
- provide individual and business taxpayers an intuitive central hub with one-click access to all authenticated and unauthenticated self-assistance applications.
- require mandatory annual training for all taxpayer-facing irs employees on online account and digital communication tools so they can educate taxpayers about them and allow employees to view taxpayer information as the taxpayer views it in online account.
- deploy a robust online account for business taxpayers by fy 2024, including features such as populating due dates for upcoming tax return or information return filings, sending reminders, and listing payment due dates and payment options.
- for those unable to complete online identity proofing with a csp, provide in-person alternatives, such as training tac staff or other irs employees to act as trusted referees to assist taxpayers with identity proofing and obtaining credentials for future access to irs online applications that require secure access.
- add increased capabilities and functionality to tax pro account, such as viewing notices and letters and uploading requested documents to provide authorized representatives seamless access to their clients’ online accounts through tax pro account.