National Taxpayer Advocate

Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., speaks during a news conference

Senators press for barcodes on tax returns so IRS can process them faster

Members of the Senate Finance Committee are calling on the Internal Revenue Service to rely on barcodes to process millions of paper tax returns more quickly.

Congress

IRS digs out from pandemic-era challenges, but struggles on some hiring goals, watchdog tells Congress

Hiring/Retention

IRS watchdog wants more money budgeted for taxpayer service, less for enforcement

Federal Newscast

How the taxpayer advocate puts together that giant report every year

Agency Oversight

(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

FILE - This March 22, 2013 file photo, shows the exterior of the Internal Revenue Service building in Washington. The Internal Revenue Service is recalling about 46,000 of its employees furloughed by the government shutdown, nearly 60 percent of its workforce, to handle tax returns and pay out refunds. The employees won't be paid. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Still ‘sorry wrong number’ for beleaguered IRS

Tom Temin Commentary

IRS needs to staff up HR office before it can rebuild its workforce, watchdog tells Congress

Hiring/Retention

Getty Images/iStockphoto/Tero Vesalainen

Why customer experience is so challenging for federal agencies

Federal Report

IRS looks to automate how it processes paper tax returns to tackle its backlog

IT Modernization

IRS employees brace for another tax season hampered by the pandemic

Management

How can the IRS improve its operations for the next filing season?

Workforce

FILE - In this photo March 22, 2013 file photo, the exterior of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) building in Washington. The IRS website to make payments went down on Tuesday, April 17, 2018. The IRS did not have an immediate explanation for the failure. But it said on its website that its online payment system became unavailable at 2:50 A.M. ET on Tuesday.(AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

IRS HR office understaffed ahead of agency’s hiring surge, watchdog warns Congress

Agency Oversight

FILE- In this Aug. 19, 2015, file photo the Internal Revenue Service Building in Washington. The prolonged government shutdown couldn’t come at a worse time for the Internal Revenue Service. The tax filing season is opening soon. And for taxpayers, payments for those who owe Uncle Sam likely will still be due April 15, but people due refunds could see a delay if the partial shutdown persists. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

How the IRS can advance from wreckage of 2021 filing season

National Taxpayer Advocate has some simple, straightforward steps for the IRS to get past its persistent service troubles.

Tom Temin Commentary

First Look

IRS digitalization office taking ‘bite-sized’ steps to consolidating legacy systems

The agency stood up its Enterprise Digitalization and Case Management Office in July to digitize paper-based taxpayer services and consolidate its case-management…

IT Modernization

FILE - In this Jan. 27, 2020 file photo, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon in Washington. Esper said Tuesday he is looking to NATO allies for more help countering the Islamic State extremist group in Iraq and in bolstering U.S. defense efforts in the Middle East more broadly. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Defense employee unions on Trump administration radar

Federal Newscast

In today’s Federal Newscast, after a delay, the White House publishes a memo allowing the defense secretary to to exclude civilian employees from current collective bargaining law.