Upcoming Tax Chat!
Designing a Direct E-File Tool for the 21st Century
14 November 2022
1:30 to 3:00 pm (Eastern Time)
Dear Friends,
I am pleased to announce that registration is open for a free on-line Tax Chat! program discussion of issues facing the IRS and other tax agencies as they introduce and utilize direct e-filing with the tax agency. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) contains $80 billion for modernizing IRS operations, and $15 million specifically for a report on the feasibility of an IRS-run direct e-file tool. The report is due May 16, 2023, nine months after the date of IRA’s enactment on August 16, 2022.
You can register for free for this Tax Chat! here. You do need to register in order to receive the zoom link.
IRA Section 10301(1)(B) specifically requires the IRS to establish a task force to design an IRS-run free “direct efile” tax return system and allocates $15 million “ [f]or necessary expenses of the Internal Revenue Service to deliver to Congress, within nine months following the date of the enactment of this Act, a report on (I) the cost (including options for differential coverage based on taxpayer adjusted gross income and return complexity) of developing and running a free direct efile tax return system, including costs to build and administer each release, with a focus on multi-lingual and mobile-friendly features and safeguards for taxpayer data; (II) taxpayer opinions, expectations, and level of trust, based on surveys, for such a free direct efile system; and (III) the opinions of an independent third-party on the overall feasibility, approach, schedule, cost, organizational design, and Internal Revenue Service capacity to deliver such a direct efile tax return system. . . .”
The workshop will explore what is possible as planning toward such a product begins. The session will address the technical details of a pre-populated IRS-generated tax return, including results from a recent U.S. Treasury study on populating returns with income data reported to the IRS, international precedent from Denmark, data and legal considerations, design and user experience considerations, and the relationship of ID verification to a pre-populated return. The session will also explore other considerations on the path to an IRS e-file tool, including the technical development roadmap, outreach efforts, holistic customer support, web design best practices, user research, and data sharing.
Moderator: Nina E. Olson, Executive Director, Center for Taxpayer Rights
Panelists:
- Katherine Lim, Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
- Kelly McBride, Group Product Manager for Tax Benefits, Code for America
- Anu Murthy, Design Managr for Tax Benefits, Code for America
- Lars Skriver, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
- Gabriel Zucker, Associate Policy Director for Tax Benefits, Code for America
Please join us for what promises to be a really interesting discussion!
All the best,
Nina
Nina E. Olson
Executive Director