The Internal Revenue Service needs a long-term strategy to improve the interactive services it offers online, according to a new government report.
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U.S. taxpayers visited the IRS's Web site over 375 million times last year. IRS officials noted there are over 110,000 Web pages and downloadable documents, plus some basic interactive tools, such as calculators, on IRS.gov.
In an earlier report in December 2011, the GAO reported that taxpayers benefit from the increased Web services, and the IRS could realize substantial savings by transferring taxpayers away from costly telephone interactions. To improve its Web site since that report, the IRS has been simultaneously focusing on multiple short-term projects to deliver new basic interactive tools and longer-term efforts to invest in foundational infrastructure, such as security. But the IRS still lacks a long-term strategy for enhancing its Web site that explains how its ongoing and new efforts fit together, the GAO said in a report released Tuesday.
No overall cost estimate exists and there are not enough details on goals, deliverables, future online services, and timeframes to be able to assess progress, the GAO noted. Several fundamental elements for a Web site strategy, as described on http://www.Howto.gov and in other guidance, are missing. Among other problems, the IRS is not using leading practices learned to help formulate a long-term strategy; setting a measureable taxpayer satisfaction goal to help ensure taxpayers' needs are being met; prioritizing the development of new online services based on business cases that outline the benefits and costs; and linking investments in security to a long term plan, said the GAO
While the IRS's efforts to date have already benefited taxpayers and hold the promise of additional benefits in the future, the report acknowledged, a long-term strategy could help managers have a common understanding of the IRS's plans, and better help Congress understand what it is being asked to fund, while holding the IRS accountable for progress.
The GAO recommended that IRS develop a long-term strategic plan for its Web services that includes, among other things, studies of leading practices at a strategic level; a measurable goal for taxpayer satisfaction; business cases for new online services that describe the potential benefits and costs and prioritized projects; and links to investments in security.
The IRS agreed with two of the GAO recommendations but did not state whether it agreed or disagreed on two others, and partially agreed with developing business cases because it believes other criteria should be considered. GAO believes this recommendation remains valid as discussed in this report.
In response to the report, IRS Acting Commissioner Steven T. Miller pointed to recent improvements in IRS.gov, which the IRS relaunched last August (see
