Legislation passed in 2010 asked federal agencies to communicate like regular people, but a newly released audit of Internal Revenue Service letters and notices found that at least half weren’t clearly written or lacked important information.
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said it examined a statistically valid sample of 18 letters and 38 notices that were revised last year. The watchdog found that nine of the letters and 25 of the notices needed improvement. Federal plain language guidelines call for short, simple words and limited jargon; organized, specific, and easy-to-follow headings; and a clear call to action from the agency to the taxpayer or constituent.
“For most of the letters and notices we reviewed, we identified more than one deficiency,” the inspector general’s report said.
The IRS mails more than 200 million letters and notices annually to individuals and businesses regarding their tax obligations. They include explaining how to pay taxes in installments and balance-due notices. Clear language is particularly important because of cutbacks in taxpayer assistance centers and IRS help lines, the inspector general said.
The inspector general’s suggestions include ensuring that the IRS’ technical writers have sufficient training on federal plain language guidelines.
The IRS, in a response that was attached to the 18-page report, said that it has long been committed to communicating clearly with taxpayers but notes that its efforts are an “ongoing endeavor.”
The IRS said its writers receive “extensive” training in plain-language prose. It defended its work in this area by saying that an outside contractor got feedback from hundreds of taxpayers on the new notices and found an “overwhelming consensus” that the revised notices represented “a significant improvement over the previous versions.”
It also annually updates and makes available on its website a report that shows it’s in compliance with that 2010 legislation, called the Plain Writing Act, and gives the public a link that can be used to provide feedback on its letters and notices.
“Providing clear communications to taxpayers is a top priority for the IRS,” the agency in a comment to the Tribune. It says that it has rewritten nearly 80 percent of the notices sent annually to taxpayers.
“An important factor affecting IRS work in this area is the underlying complexity of the nation’s tax law, which adds challenges to this process,” the IRS said.
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