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Want to Use the Internet? Join the IRS
Sen. Chuck Grassley, Chairman of the Committee on Finance, said (May 8, 2001) that hundreds of IRS employees are spending hours using the Web for non-business purposes while their level of service to taxpayers is lackluster and productivity continues to decline. And who is paying the bill? The taxpayers.

Two reports issued last November by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration found that over a seven-day period IRS employees used the Internet 8,250 hours for non-business purposes while working 16,275 hours. The web sites included stock trading, chat rooms, streaming video, spots, pornography and gambling. This equates to 238 employees a year doing nothing but surfing the Internet for personnel gratification! And they want to hire more people?(!)

E-mail is an important form of business communication, but monitoring showed 47 percent of IRS incoming e-mails were for non-business purposes. Topics included: online magazines, high school alumni groups and rock star devotee groups. The personal use of e-mail has an impact on the agency’s customer service and productivity.

Independently, Senator Grassley received information that the agency’s use of outside contractors has skyrocketed from $444 million (1992) to 1.3 billion in fiscal year 2000. Congress had best examine the agency’s ability to utilize its current employees before it requests additional personnel. Would more people require more computers so more employees could surf the net?

Inadequate taxpayer assistance continues to plague the IRS and has become a major irritant to taxpayers. Unfortunately, taxpayers who follow incorrect IRS advice can be hit with back taxes, interest and penalties, all though no fault of their own. The responsibility for using incorrect IRS advice rests with the taxpayer NOT the IRS.

Their latest attempt to solve this problem was a system designed to route calls to IRS workers familiar with the caller’s topic. Software failures and other problems have delayed deployment of the system.

Inspector General David William’s auditors found continuing problems. They were unable to gain phone access 37 percent of the time and received incorrect response from the IRS 47 percent of the time. When reached by phone, they didn’t receive the requested service 47 percent of the time. The topics for the test were the IRS’s own list of frequently asked questions.

"The IRS has a tough job, and I’m sure the majority of employees work hard," Grassley said. "But it’s reasonable to expect a basic level of service from the IRS to taxpayers. When you call the IRS, somebody should pick up the phone. When you ask a question, you should get the right answer. When you try to pay your taxes, the IRS should help you do it."

The IRS should accept the responsibly for incorrect information and not penalize the taxpayer. It you can’t trust IRS advice, whose can you trust?