IRS Union to Push for More Telework as Technology Improves

The union that represents about 65,000 IRS employees wants to take advantage of the agency’s improving technology to expand who can telework, the labor organization’s national president said Tuesday.

IRS positions that focus mostly on paper forms, such as processing paper returns and opening mail, aren’t eligible for telework. But as the IRS scans more returns into computer systems, those employees could be moved to a telework environment, National Treasury Employees Union National President Doreen Greenwald said in an interview.

“The IRS acknowledges that telework works and they’re working to continue it where it makes sense,” Greenwald said, adding that the union wants to make sure that the work that is done in the office can’t be done remotely.

The Internal Revenue Service in August announced a “paperless initiative” where, by the 2024 filing season, taxpayers will be able to submit all correspondence, non-tax forms, and responses to notices online. By the 2025 filing season, the IRS will process all paper-filed tax and information returns digitally.

• In July 2020, IRS employees were among the first to return to office to manage a growing backlog of paper despite lingering Covid-19 concerns.
• The union in the next year will focus on having a robust remote work program to help recruit and retain employees, Greenwald said.