Tax Committee Launches Task Force to Discuss E-File

By Simon Eskow

The New York State Society of CPAs Tax Division Oversight Committee recently voted to establish a task force on the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) push for electronically filed tax returns.

The committee approved the task force at a May 1 meeting after members discussed recent encounters with the IRS regarding its E-File system and the difficulty the service presents for complex returns.

“This is something I’ve been wanting to do for a while,” said Steven Goodman, an Oversight Committee member and chairman of the Taxation of Individuals Committee. “We were talking about some of the e-file situations and how the IRS is going about it…The IRS presented a plan that was definitive and addressed a population that needed e-file, but I don’t think they are addressing everything.”
Congress mandated the IRS to increase electronic filing of returns to 80 percent by 2007. The agency announced that as of April 19, 45.8 million taxpayers had e-filed, with about 51 percent of individuals filing through the Internet. The story isn’t as clear for the more intricate business returns. Practitioners have been concerned about the availability of necessary documents and technical problems that the e-file program has yet to address.

Goodman said the goal of the task force is to discuss these problems. The hope is to hold a task force meeting within the next three months. The task force tentatively includes members of the Relations with the IRS Committee, the Taxation of Individuals Committee and the Partnerships Committee.

Members interested in participating in the task force should contact Goodman by e-mail at sgoodman@goodmancpagroup.com.