Published: August 27, 2024 | Last Updated: February 3, 2026

Improve the Customer Experience for Online Accounts Available to Individuals, Businesses, and Tax Professionals

Background

The IRS has continued to expand its online account functionality, but taxpayers and tax professionals still lack comprehensive online accounts. The lack of a robust, self-service avenue to interact online with the IRS fails to adequately meet taxpayer service expectations and forces taxpayers and tax professionals to pursue alternative methods that delay resolution, such as calling for assistance, seeking in-person assistance at a TAC, submitting paper documents, or forgoing assistance entirely.

The IRS Strategic Operating Plan (SOP) contains many objectives that have the potential to transform the modernization of online accounts, such as improving self-service options, building status tracking tools, and expanding digital response options. As the IRS implements its SOP, TAS will continue to advocate for it to develop online account functionality with a taxpayer-centric approach that prioritizes the experience and needs of all taxpayers and tax professionals while incorporating input from stakeholders.

Online accounts with robust services that incorporate the digital-first public experience best practices are an important tool to improve the taxpayer experience and raise taxpayers’ overall satisfaction and trust in the IRS, and TAS will continue to advocate that the IRS implement these best practices.

Highlights

Status

Expected Completion Date

09/30/2025

Activities

Activity 1: Monitor IRS implementation of the SOP objectives relating to online accounts and provide recommendations to ensure the IRS makes timely progress toward developing online account functionality with a taxpayer-centric approach that prioritizes the experience and needs of individual and business taxpayers and tax professionals.

Activity 2: Provide recommendations to the IRS for the expansion of services available within Individual Online Accounts, Business Tax Accounts, and Tax Pro Accounts.

Activity Updates:

Activity 1: TAS Systemic Advocacy continues to attend meetings with IRS BOD representatives for Individual Online Accounts, Tax Pro and Business Tax Account. Enhancements within Online Accounts are monitored, focusing on taxpayer experience. Upcoming Digital Mobile and Adaptive Forms (DMAF) Form 4605-F was tested, and recommendations were made to optimize user experience. Additionally, we are actively working a project regarding the IRS Online EIN Application not working as intended. Systemic Advocacy also recently received multiple inquiries regarding Tax Pro installment agreements and conducting additional research. This activity is being closed and all FY2026 actions will be tracked under the new FY2026 Systemic Advocacy Objective which aligns to these efforts.

Activity 2: Systemic Advocacy attended reoccurring meetings with IRS Business Operating Division representatives for Online Accounts, as well as demonstrations of new enhancements within the online applications. Concerns regarding user experience are elevated, as well as systemic issues identified though the Phoenix system. During FY25 Individual Online Accounts had 8 enhancements, Business Tax Accounts had 5 enhancements and Tax Pro had 8 enhancements. This activity is being closed and all FY2026 actions will be tracked under the new FY2026 Systemic Advocacy Objective which aligns to these efforts.

1st Quarter Actions Completed

TAS Systemic Advocacy (SA) continues to participate in meetings with IRS Business Operating Division (BOD) representatives focused on Individual Online Accounts, Tax Pro, and Business Tax Account services. TAS is actively monitoring Online Accounts enhancements aimed at improving the taxpayer experience. Additionally, TAS attends demonstrations showcasing enhancements in the online applications environment. User experience and systemic issues are being elevated and tracked through the Systemic Advocacy Management System.

2nd Quarter Actions Completed

TAS Systemic Advocacy continues to attend meetings with IRS Business Operating Division representatives for Individual Online Accounts, Tax Pro and Business Tax Account. TAS monitored enhancements within Online Accounts to ensure focus on the taxpayer experience.

3rd Quarter Actions Completed

TAS Systemic Advocacy continued to attend meetings with IRS BOD representatives for Individual Online Accounts, Tax Pro and Business Tax Account. Enhancements within Online Accounts are monitored, focusing on taxpayer experience.

TAS attended reoccurring meetings with IRS Business Operating Division representatives for Online Accounts, as well as demonstrations of new enhancements within the online applications. Concerns regarding user experience are elevated, as well as systemic issues identified through Phoenix.

4th Quarter Activities Completed

TAS Systemic Advocacy continues to attend meetings with IRS Business Operating Division (BOD) representatives for Individual Online Accounts, Tax Pro and Business Tax Account. Enhancements within Online Accounts are monitored, focusing on taxpayer experience.
Systemic Advocacy attended reoccurring meetings with IRS Online Account BOD representatives, and saw demonstrations of new enhancements made to the online applications. Concerns regarding user experience and systemic issues identified through the TAS Phoenix system were elevated.

Return to FY26 Objective Statuses