[World Tax News] USA Adopts Paperless Return Processing | Forms to be Available in Mobile-friendly Formats and More

Editorial Team – [2023] 153 taxmann.com 442 (Article)

World Tax News provides a weekly snippet of tax news from around the globe. Here is a glimpse of the tax happening in the world this week.

1. USA adopts paperless return processing; forms to be available in mobile-friendly formats

Paper-based processes have long hampered the IRS and frustrated taxpayers. The challenges created by paper are two-fold: taxpayers cannot digitally submit many forms and correspondence beyond their annual 1040 tax return, and the IRS cannot process paper tax returns it receives digitally. For decades, taxpayers had to respond to notices for things like document verification through the mail. IRS employees had to manually enter numbers from paper returns into computers one digit at a time, creating significant delays for taxpayers and challenges for IRS staff.

The IRS has made significant progress in adopting new technology that automates scanning millions of paper returns. As the next phase of its modernization, the IRS is accelerating paperless processing efforts.

(A) Filing season 2024

• Digital submission of all the correspondences: Taxpayers will be able to digitally submit all correspondence, non-tax forms, and responses to notices; as a result, the IRS estimates more than 94% of individual taxpayers will no longer ever need to send mail to the IRS.
• Enabling taxpayers to furnish additional tax forms: Achieving this milestone will enable up to 4 million additional tax documents to be filed digitally every year.
• Availability of certain non-tax forms in mobile-friendly format: At least 20 of the most used non-tax forms will be available in digital, mobile-friendly formats, making them easy for taxpayers to complete and submit. These forms will include a Request for Taxpayer Advocate Service Assistance, making it easier for taxpayers to get the help they need.

(B) Filing season 2025

• Additional forms in mobile-friendly format: By filing season 2025, an additional 150 of the most used non-tax forms will be available in digital, mobile-friendly formats. An estimated 15 percent of Americans rely solely on mobile phones for their Internet access—they do not have broadband at home—and making forms available in mobile-friendly formats is key to serving these taxpayers.
• Digital processing of all paper-filed tax and information returns: IRS will digitally process all paper-filed tax and information returns. Achieving this milestone will enable up to 76 million paper documents to be processed digitally every year, improving service, cutting processing times in half, and expediting taxpayer refunds by several weeks.

Source: Fact Sheet by IRS

Click Here To Read The Full Article