The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced a paperless processing initiative for tax returns that eliminate the use of up to 200 million sheets of paper annually.
“Paper-based processes have long hampered the IRS and frustrated taxpayers. The challenges created by paper are twofold: taxpayers cannot digitally submit many forms and correspondence beyond their annual 1040 tax return, and the IRS cannot digitally process the paper tax returns it receivesthe agency said in a statement.
For decades, taxpayers had to respond to notices for things like document verification by mail, and IRS employees had to manually enter paper return numbers into computersone digit at a time, creating significant delays for taxpayers and challenges for IRS staff.
The IRS receives about 76 million paper tax forms and returnsand 125 million pieces of correspondence, notice responses and non-tax forms each year, and its limited ability to accept these forms digitally or digitize the paper it receives has prevented the IRS from effectively serving taxpayers.
The IRS is rolling out an ambitious plan to ensure that by the 2024 tax filing season, taxpayers can go paperless if they choose, and by the 2025 tax filing season, seeks to achieve paperless processing by digitizing for all documents submitted on paper when received. This means that all paper will be converted to a digital format as soon as it arrives at the IRS.
According to the IRS, digitization has far-reaching implications for improving the service of the tax agency. Digitization of paper returns will eliminate errors that result from manually entering data from paper returnswhich will speed up processing, reduce storage costs, and allow the IRS to focus more resources on customer service.
For more details about the paperless processing initiative, visit here.
Keep reading:
IRS Eliminates Unannounced Visits by Tax Collection Officials to Taxpayers
· IRS warns that it is going for high-income people who evade taxes
IRS Warns of Scam Offering Taxpayer Refunds
