The buck stops at the top. When things go wrong in any organization, the temptation is to blame the workers. Don’t. What’s missing is top-down focus on what we want from the IRS, and the expertise, continuity and accountability to meet those expectations. That’s why the Restructuring Commission recommended sweeping changes in IRS management, governance and oversight. IRS commissioners now have no set term; most serve for only a couple of years. They have neither the tenure nor the tools to build a management team and hold that team accountable. Give the commissioner a five-year term, and the power to reward employees who do the job and fire those who don’t. Instead of wildly fluctuating budgets, give the IRS stable, long-term funding that will let it get the job done. Require coordinated, ongoing congressional oversight that focuses on broad strategic issues. For example, do we want universal electronic filing? If so, how do we get there? Create an independent IRS Oversight Board within the Department of Treasury. The board should have clearly defined responsibilities and private-sector representatives who serve for staggered five-year terms, so they’ll be around long enough to watch over the arduous process of changing a huge organization. Finally, agree on some fundamentals. For example, the IRS should never contact a taxpayer unless it is ready to resolve the matter promptly and properly. Citizens should never be required to deal with IRS employees unless those employees are properly trained and equipped to do the job.
Keep it simple. Taxpayers and the IRS are being asked to do the impossible–comply with, and administer, a grotesquely complex and unworkable Internal Revenue Code. IRS reforms are essential, but Congress and the president must also simplify the tax law, enhance taxpayer rights and reduce the crushing burden of penalties and interest. The Restructuring Commission had it right: the IRS commissioner should be the people’s advocate for simplifying tax administration and the tax law.
Mind what you measure, because that’s what you’ll get. Congress and the administration talk a lot about fair and reasonable treatment of taxpayers. But at present, the primary IRS performance measures are limited to raw enforcement data like how much money the agency claims taxpayers owe after audits. No wonder that’s where IRS workers focus their attention. Most are frustrated that they cannot do better by the American public. Congress, the administration and senior IRS management make the rules. When they start measuring–and rewarding–fair and reasonable treatment of taxpayers, that’s what we’ll get.
Make it bipartisan. The IRS will always be a fat political target. But IRS reform is a bipartisan cause. The Restructuring Commission’s recommendations were the starting point for legislation sponsored by Sen. Bob Kerrey, Democrat of Nebraska, and Rep. Rob Portman, Republican of Ohio (the commission’s cochairs), and Sen. Chuck Grassley, Republican of Iowa, and Rep. Ben Cardin, Democrat of Maryland. They have been joined by many of their colleagues from both parties. This is the kind of bipartisan leadership that the American people expect and deserve.
Still, commission reports and Senate hearings won’t do the trick. And hasty, ill-conceived initiatives in response to public pressure won’t change the IRS. Real change requires legislation that builds on–and improves–the commission’s recommendations. If Congress and the White House act, the IRS will change. If they don’t, millions of citizens–and thousands of equally frustrated IRS employees–will suffer under a system that fails to meet the legitimate demands and expectations of the American people. But next time around, don’t blame the IRS. Blame those in charge.
