New IRS Plan Set to Modernize Tax Practitioner Solutions

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The IRS recently announced their IRS Modernization Plan, a six-year strategy to modernize IRS Information technology systems and build critical infrastructure needed for the future of the nation’s tax system. The plan is also intended to improve how the agency interacts with taxpayers and the tax community while continuing to strengthen cybersecurity protections and information technology systems.

The plan is built around four modernization pillars including the taxpayer experience, core taxpayer services and enforcement, modernized IRS operations, and cybersecurity & data protection.

According to the official IRS summary of the Plan1, the plan calls for delivering new capabilities each year, dependent on future funding, also includes business goals, multiple milestones and levels of accountability, for the next six years that will: 

  • Consistently provide superior service to taxpayers and the tax community
  • Enable a strong and secure systems platform for taxpayer-facing applications
  • Expand the digital conversion of paper case files and documentation
  • Leverage existing data to detect tax noncompliance earlier
  • Deliver long-term budget and personnel efficiencies as the IRS decommissions legacy IT applications, automates manual processes and expands advanced analytics programs
  • Stabilize the rising cost of maintaining legacy applications and infrastructure
  • Reinvest savings to keep technology current and expand digital services consistent with similar trends in the private sector

Overall, the estimated costs of the modernization plan are between $2.3 billion to $2.7 billion over the six-year period for full implementation of all the initiatives.

If you are interested in reviewing the actual 45-page IRS Modernization Plan itself you will find it at this website.

Footnote:

1 – Adapted from IRS FS-2019-9, April 2019: IRS Modernization Plan provides plan to improve services for taxpayers, tax community.