IRS strategic plan: Service, compliance, modernization.

Accounting Today, August, 2004 by Roger Russell

The Internal Revenue Service has unveiled an updated strategic plan that outlines three broad goals for the agency through 2009: improved service to taxpayers, enhanced enforcement of the tax laws, and modernized business processes and technology.

"In recent years, the IRS has made significant progress in improving service," said IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson. "While the agency's commitment to service continues, the IRS must now sharpen the focus on enforcement."

The IRS anticipates a dynamic world filled with new demands for service, according to the plan's vision statement. To achieve its vision, the plan suggests, the agency must be re-centered to provide the proper balance of service and enforcement poised to meet customer expectations and to respond...