How Tax Professionals Would Change the IRS

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2 Mar 2025

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the backbone of the United States tax system, responsible for collecting revenue, enforcing tax laws, and administering tax-related programs. However, tax professionals; accountants, tax attorneys, and enrolled agents; who work closely with the IRS on a daily basis have long voiced concerns about inefficiencies, complexities, and outdated policies within the agency. Given the opportunity, these professionals would propose substantial reforms aimed at making the IRS more efficient, fair, and taxpayer-friendly. This article explores how tax professionals would change the IRS in areas such as modernization, customer service, tax code simplification, enforcement fairness, and transparency.

1. Modernizing IRS Technology and Systems

One of the biggest grievances tax professionals have with the IRS is its outdated technology. Many of the agency’s systems date back to the 1960s, using legacy programming languages such as COBOL. This antiquated technology results in slow processing times, frequent system failures, and inefficiencies that tax professionals must work around.

Tax professionals would advocate for a full-scale modernization of the IRS’s technological infrastructure. This includes updating databases, implementing AI-driven customer service tools, and creating a robust, secure online portal where tax professionals and taxpayers can easily submit forms, track case progress, and communicate with IRS agents in real-time. An improved digital experience would cut down on long wait times and reduce the need for paper-based submissions, which are notoriously slow to process.

Additionally, automation and AI could be leveraged to streamline processes such as identity verification, fraud detection, and error correction. These advancements would minimize manual workload, allowing IRS employees to focus on complex cases that require human judgment while also reducing errors that result in unnecessary audits or delays.

2. Enhancing Customer Service and Responsiveness

Customer service is another area where tax professionals consistently encounter frustration when dealing with the IRS. Long wait times on phone lines, lost correspondence, and slow response times are major pain points that lead to delays in tax resolution.

Tax professionals would propose hiring more trained IRS representatives and increasing funding for customer service operations. Investing in multilingual support, chat-based customer service, and a dedicated hotline for tax professionals would make interactions with the IRS more efficient. Furthermore, implementing a case management system that assigns a single IRS representative to each case would help ensure continuity and avoid taxpayers having to explain their situation repeatedly to different agents.

In addition to human support, tax professionals would encourage self-service options, such as an enhanced online knowledge base, AI-powered tax assistants, and automated callback features to alleviate congestion on IRS phone lines. These improvements would significantly reduce taxpayer frustration and ensure that tax professionals can resolve client issues in a timely manner.

3. Simplifying the Tax Code

The complexity of the U.S. tax code is a major concern for both taxpayers and tax professionals. With thousands of pages of regulations, frequent changes in tax laws, and myriad deductions and credits, compliance is unnecessarily complicated.

Tax professionals would push for a more simplified tax code that reduces the number of tax brackets, consolidates deductions and credits, and eliminates loopholes that disproportionately benefit certain taxpayers over others. A clearer tax code would reduce the burden on both taxpayers and the IRS, decreasing the need for audits and disputes while making compliance easier.

One potential reform that tax professionals often discuss is a shift toward a more standardized system, such as a flat tax or a tiered consumption-based tax, which could reduce the need for complex deductions and exemptions. Another approach is simplifying business taxation, particularly for small businesses, which often struggle with navigating corporate tax obligations. By creating a more straightforward tax structure, the IRS could improve compliance rates while reducing administrative costs.

4. Improving Enforcement Fairness and Reducing Unnecessary Audits

Tax professionals frequently express concerns about how the IRS selects taxpayers for audits and enforces tax laws. Many argue that the current system disproportionately targets low- and middle-income taxpayers rather than wealthy individuals and large corporations, who have access to more sophisticated tax avoidance strategies.

To address this imbalance, tax professionals would advocate for a more strategic audit selection process that focuses on high-risk cases rather than random or overly broad targeting. This could be accomplished through enhanced data analytics and AI-driven risk assessment models that identify high-probability tax fraud cases more effectively.

Moreover, tax professionals would encourage the IRS to adopt a more taxpayer-friendly approach to audits. This includes improving transparency in audit selection criteria, providing clearer communication about taxpayer rights, and offering alternative dispute resolution mechanisms to resolve cases without unnecessary litigation. Ensuring that enforcement efforts are fair and proportionate would build greater trust in the tax system while reducing the burden on honest taxpayers.

5. Increasing Transparency and Taxpayer Education

A lack of transparency in IRS policies and procedures creates confusion for both taxpayers and tax professionals. Unclear guidance, inconsistent rulings, and sudden regulatory changes often lead to disputes and compliance challenges.

Tax professionals would push for the IRS to increase transparency by regularly publishing detailed explanations of tax law interpretations, issuing clear guidance on new tax policies, and making it easier to access rulings and decisions. This would help taxpayers and professionals alike understand their obligations and avoid unintentional noncompliance.

Additionally, taxpayer education is a critical component of compliance. Tax professionals would advocate for expanded IRS educational programs, including workshops, webinars, and a robust online learning platform that helps taxpayers understand their responsibilities. Simplified, plain-language guides on common tax issues would also be beneficial in demystifying complex topics.

6. Strengthening Cybersecurity and Data Protection

Given the sensitive nature of tax-related information, cybersecurity is a major concern for tax professionals. The IRS has been the target of cyberattacks, and identity theft related to tax filings remains a persistent issue.

Tax professionals would advocate for increased investment in cybersecurity infrastructure, including multi-factor authentication for all IRS online services, encrypted communication channels for transmitting sensitive data, and improved fraud detection algorithms. These measures would protect taxpayer information and reduce the incidence of fraudulent tax filings.

7. Providing More Support for Small Businesses and Self-Employed Taxpayers

Small business owners and self-employed individuals often face disproportionate challenges in tax compliance due to the complexity of business taxation and the lack of accessible IRS guidance.

Tax professionals would propose the creation of specialized IRS support units dedicated to small businesses and gig economy workers. These units would provide tailored guidance, offer streamlined tax filing options, and ensure that tax credits and deductions are easily accessible for small businesses.

Additionally, tax professionals support expanding pre-filing assistance programs that help small businesses navigate estimated tax payments, payroll tax obligations, and deductions. Reducing the administrative burden on small businesses would allow them to focus more on growth and productivity rather than tax compliance hurdles.

Conclusion

If tax professionals were given the opportunity to reform the IRS, their changes would focus on modernization, efficiency, fairness, and transparency. By upgrading outdated technology, improving customer service, simplifying the tax code, refining enforcement strategies, increasing transparency, bolstering cybersecurity, and offering better support for small businesses, the IRS could become a more effective and taxpayer-friendly agency. These reforms would not only benefit tax professionals in their work but also enhance compliance and fairness for all taxpayers. While implementing such changes would require significant investment and legislative action, the long-term benefits would far outweigh the costs, ultimately creating a more efficient and just tax system for the United States.