As the IRS uses additional funds to upgrade its operations and systems, the agency should take steps to enhance the systems it uses to communicate with businesses, the American Bankers Association said today. The IRS was initially allocated approximately $79 billion under the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act to improve its tax administration and services. In a letter to the agency, ABA said it welcomed the IRS’s stated objectives for how it would use the funding but had two recommendations to significantly enhance compliance by financial institutions and agency enforcement.
First, the IRS should develop and implement a centralized electronic interface where businesses may view information and communications from the agency, ABA said. “ABA believes a centralized electronic IRS interface where businesses could quickly view information and communications from the IRS would dramatically help businesses obtain information in a more timely fashion.”
Second, the IRS should expand its Transcript Delivery System, or TDS, to large businesses, ABA said. TDS is currently available to small businesses and certain trust providers, but large businesses must dial a phone number that can only process five legal entities at a given time. “This approach is counterintuitive and outdated, as large businesses—like many large financial institutions—are the exact entities that need transcripts on a regular basis to reconcile data,” the association said.
