January 1999 Issue

THE IRS'S NEW MISSION STATEMENT

In a November 1998 address, IRS Commissioner Charles O. Rossotti referred to the new mission statement of the IRS: "Provide America's taxpayers top quality service by helping them understand and meet their tax responsibilities and by applying the tax law with integrity and fairness to all."

The main thrust of his speech before a meeting of the Council on Economic Development was the progress being made toward the modernization of the IRS. He explained that the fundamental problem was a failure to keep computer capabilities current. In the '60s and '70s the IRS made tremendous strides in automating its system. But unlike successful modernizations such as NASA's, no major effort was made to continually upgrade and improve the system to take advantage of emerging technologies as they developed. The result is a huge catch-up program, much of which is centered on becoming Y2K compliant. The plans are to have the new systems in place by early 1999 so that the full year can be spent in testing.

Rossotti went on to say that the mission statement "clearly puts our customer service commitment in the forefront of our modernization goals."

Part of the modernization program will include organizational changes as well. "Paving cow paths is not the answer," Rossotti said. "The answer is to build a new road." He said he seeks better organizational performance rather than individual performance as measured by quotas of taxes collected. The IRS's new performance measures will balance taxpayer satisfaction, business results, and employee satisfaction. *

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