Tax Administration

GAO's review of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) forms, publications, and notices did not identify any instances in which the documents failed to conform with current legal requirements or IRS guidance. But several changes could be made to improve the understandability and the usefulness of forms, publications, and notices sent to taxpayers. Generally, these changes involve the use of more-specific language, consistent terminology, and inclusion of references to other forms and publications. The taxpayer assistance telephone numbers found on IRS forms and publications are for offices that should be able to respond to taxpayers' questions. The notices GAO reviewed generally include the telephone number of an IRS service center, a district office, or a toll-free taxpayer call site.

GAO found that: (1) the 13 forms and 4 publications reviewed were generally accurate and conformed with IRS guidance; (2) there were some forms and publications that IRS needed to revise to make them easier for taxpayers to understand and use; (3) the reading levels of IRS forms and publications ranged from the sixth to the tenth grade; (4) IRS is studying other factors that contribute to a taxpayer's ability to understand its written material; (5) suggested changes to IRS notices included language clarification and some rearrangement of the tax material presented in the notice; and (6) the forms, publications, and notices that contained taxpayer assistance telephone numbers all correctly referred taxpayers to an IRS unit responsible for answering questions and providing other assistance related to an IRS form or publication.