A Friendly IRS?

Mention the IRS to nearly anyone and you'll likely get moans and groans. Tax time and the rigorous mental exercise that is tax filing are just part of that.

There is also the fearsome spectre of an IRS that can (and will) check your figures, your deductions, your life itself, and come back at you with levies and penalties if - somehow - you failed to achieve compliance.

Compliance is the issue. The current approach to compliance is to look back - sometimes long after a return has been filed - and look for inaccuracies. Then, when the circumstances warrant, long after taxes are paid and refunds issued, the IRS comes calling... often with a set of unattractive options and warnings.

But, IRS commissioner Doug Shulman has a different vision for the IRS in the future. Shulman's vision is for a modern, responsive and proactive IRS. If Shulman's vision comes to life, the IRS would implement a "real time" check of returns against a vast store of data and provide tax payers an opportunity to correct errant returns at the time of filing.

Just imagine... A friendly IRS.