IRS Creates New Chief Taxpayer Experience Officer Post

The new position will work with business units and offices across the IRS to serve taxpayers.

(Credit: Allison Bell/ALM)

The Internal Revenue Service has created a new Chief Taxpayer Experience Officer position to help serve taxpayers.

Ken Corbin, currently the IRS Wage and Investment commissioner, assumes the new role while also continuing to serve in his position overseeing the agency’s largest operating division.

The new post is part of a larger effort related to the Taxpayer First Act, signed into law on July 1, 2019.

The act, as the IRS explained, “aims to expand and strengthen taxpayer rights and to reform the IRS into a more taxpayer-friendly agency by requiring it to develop a comprehensive customer service strategy,” along with upgrading its technology and boosting cybersecurity.

“I’m excited for this opportunity and, with my dedicated Taxpayer Experience Office team, look forward to helping the IRS continue to earn the trust and respect of every American. We want to help taxpayers and we will,” Corbin said Tuesday in a statement.

The IRS delivered the Taxpayer First Act Report to Congress earlier this month, providing a comprehensive set of recommendations intended to reimagine the taxpayer experience, enhance employee training and restructure the organization to increase collaboration and innovation.

The Taxpayer Experience Office, led by the Chief Taxpayer Experience Officer, reporting directly to the Commissioner, is one of the new roles envisioned in the multi-year plan.

The new position will work with business units and offices across the IRS, including Chief Counsel, the Independent Office of Appeals and the National Taxpayer Advocate, the IRS said.

“The role is envisioned as working in coordination with the National Taxpayer Advocate, which is an independent organization inside the agency that helps taxpayers with issues that can’t be resolved with the IRS.”

IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig in the statement that the position “is designed to ensure the views and experiences of taxpayers and their professional representatives are factored into all aspects of IRS operations. While taxpayer service has always been a priority for the IRS, we can do more.

“Having Ken Corbin in this new position will provide a different way of ensuring the taxpayer component is factored into all aspects of global IRS operations and business decisions in a way that’s never been done before. Every taxpayer and every taxpayer interaction are important, and Ken will make a significant difference going forward.”

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