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An examination of interagency evaluations of the IRS taxpayer assistance programs is used to infer the level of IRS taxpayer service. Congress mandated that IRS provide “top quality service” to taxpayers as part of the 1998 Tax Act. Based on these assessments, it appears that the IRS is not providing adequate service.The reports analyzed document a system that needs corrective actions. Until upper level IRS management publicly acknowledges the situation, inadequate service will continue. Congress must also recognize the extent of the problems and that its 1998 mandate is not near full implementation. Unless corrective actions occur, it appears that this mandate remains as only a politically expedient reaction to the 1997 Congressional hearings on IRS abuses.

An assimilation and a synthesis of the major General Accounting Office (GAO) reports released on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for calendar year 2002 reveal a variety of tax administration problems. An analysis of the GAO reports also suggests that the IRS might be a contributor to the non-compliance problem. Additionally, Congresses and Administrations have not facilitated meaningful improvements.

While the GAO reports generally attempt to portray the ongoing modernization efforts within the IRS favorably, the weaknesses identified suggest that significant tax administration problems exist. This article presents a detailed analysis of the GAO overall report on the 2002-filing season and assesses GAO reports and testimonies that contain IRS in their titles.