IRS expands machine-readability of tax returns
The nominee likely to be leading the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has promised a package of tax-recovery measures if elected, including a plan for digitalisation and expanding the machine-readability of tax returns.
The nominee, Daniel Werfel, has highlighted the need to prioritize modernization of the IRS. This includes “digitizing paper forms into machine-readable output upon receipt” to shrink a backlog of unprocessed returns.
The aim is to decrease the tax gap, which currently stands at $496 billion between tax owed and tax paid annually from 2014-2016, according to IRS estimates.
Digitalization and the introduction of machine readability is certainly transformational in many other domains around the world. Oh! And Mr Presumptive Commissioner? About those machine-readable business forms? There’s a standard for that!
Read more here.
