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IRS GOES FORWARD WHERE IOWA DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE CHICKENS OUT

May 14, 2008

In 2005 and 2006, the Iowa Department of Revenue web site had a system that enabled taxpayers and their advisors to access taxpayer account information. It a great too for confirming estimated tax payments when preparing tax returns. In our practice, taxpayer errors in estimated taxes - forgetting payments they made, or reporting payments that weren't made - generate more taxpayer notices than any other cause. The website easily prevented hundreds of tax return errors, and notices, statewide.

Iowa shut down this feature for this year's tax season. The Department director cites information security concerns in defending this decision. Now it looks like the IRS is going where Iowa fears to tread. Tax Analysts reports ($link):

Taxpayers will be able to access their personal account information on the IRS Web site by the fall, an IRS official said during a May 13 IRS Tax Talk Today webcast.

Beth Jones, the director of electronic products and services support in the IRS Wage and Investment Division, called the creation of the "my IRS account" service "a big step."

Maybe a successful federal program will cause Iowa to reconsider.

Tags: tax administration.

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