The failure of the IRS to provide top quality service

An examination of interagency evaluations of the IRS taxpayer assistance programs is used to infer the level of IRS taxpayer service. Congress mandated that IRS provide “top quality service” to taxpayers as part of the 1998 Tax Act. Based on these assessments, it appears that the IRS is not providing adequate service.The reports analyzed document a system that needs corrective actions. Until upper level IRS management publicly acknowledges the situation, inadequate service will continue. Congress must also recognize the extent of the problems and that its 1998 mandate is not near full implementation. Unless corrective actions occur, it appears that this mandate remains as only a politically expedient reaction to the 1997 Congressional hearings on IRS abuses.