Treasury Inspector General J. Russell George said at the
hearing that the IRS should not “emphasize enforcement at the
expense of taxpayer rights and customer service.”
George added that reducing the current level of customer
service should only be taken with “the utmost thought and
consideration of their impact, and only with all the necessary
data to support these actions.”
Michael Brostek, the Government Accountability Office’s
Director of Strategic Issues, also called for better data.
He cited a recent GAO report recommending that the agency
develop plans to periodically measure tax compliance and
improve data on the reasons taxpayers do not comply, as well
as establish long-term, quantitative goals for voluntary
compliance levels initially focusing on individual
underreporting and total tax underpayment.
“Taken together, these steps can help IRS build a foundation
to understand how its taxpayer service and enforcement
efforts affect compliance,” Brostek added.
