"The IRS has streamlined several important areas to reduce paperwork and cut red tape," said Commissioner Charles O. Rossotti. "We are determined to improve service and take as much of the headache out of tax time as possible."

This marks the first filing season since the IRS reorganized in October 2000, shifting from a geographically-based organization into one built around the needs of four different groups of taxpayers.

This year, the IRS has expanded electronic filing with a new version of paperless filing using a self-select Personal Identification Number. The IRS estimates some 130 million individual returns will be filed this year.

The Self-Select PIN -- along with the adjusted gross income and tax amounts from last year's tax return -- will serve as an electronic signature for an e-filed tax return, eliminating the need for a paper form for a signature.

In addition, 23 new forms can be e-filed this year, so almost all taxpayers can now use e-file, the IRS said.

The IRS expects the number of electronically filed returns to top 42 million this year, up from more than 35 million, or 33 percent of individual returns, in 2000. Last year's figure marked a 10 percent increase over 1999, when 23 percent of individual returns, or about 30 million were e-filed. In 1998, some 25 million individual returns, or 20 percent, were filed electronically, according to the IRS.

The IRS also noted that taxpayer satisfaction with e-filing increased for the second year in a row, according to a government-wide survey. The American Customer Satisfaction Index survey, sponsored by the President's Management Council, found that the overall customer satisfaction score for electronic filing increased to 75 in 2000, up from 74 in 1999.

Comparable services in the private sector and for the filing of paper tax returns scored a 71.2, and the government's average score was 68.6, according to the IRS. The agency also noted that 81 percent of survey respondents said they plan to file electronically again.

The overall customer satisfaction score for paper filing was a 48. The survey report concluded that customer satisfaction with paper filing is affected most by circumstances beyond IRS control, such as the complexity of the tax code.

The IRS has also added a new checkbox disclosure authorization on the tax forms that  enables taxpayers to authorize the IRS to discuss processing problems over the phone directly with a person's paid preparer. Since more than half of tax returns come from paid preparers, the IRS hopes the change will eliminate a barrier that slowed communication between taxpayers, practitioners and the IRS and that it will reduce the number of IRS letters to taxpayers.

The agency said one of its highest priorities is putting in place an improved call routing system that will help more taxpayers get better telephone service.

Telephone help will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week throughout tax season at (800) 829-1040. Automated refund information and TeleTax's recorded information on common tax topics are available by calling (800) 829-4477. Copies of forms and publications may be requested by calling (800) 829-3676, or on the IRS Web site at www.irs.gov. More than 150 million forms and publications were downloaded during fiscal 2000.

In the long run, the IRS said taxpayers will see new ways of doing business as it implements new programs and new technology to improve service, with a special emphasis on solving problems before they start.

-- SmartPros News Staff

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