The IRS response to the coronavirus pandemic is exposing shortfalls and technology gaps it hopes to address in ongoing reform efforts.
The virus has presented unprecedented challenges for the IRS. It has forced the agency to test remote working capabilities for nearly its entire workforce—all while implementing new relief laws, processing millions of stimulus payments, and carrying out an extended tax filing season. But the challenges also provide a unique opportunity for the agency to learn and test out ideas for reforms, IRS officials said.
“Watching how the agency responded to this crisis, and participating in that response, gave us ...