In a new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the agency suggested that the IRS conduct a study to find out if a
new kiosk program that utilizes updated technology or deploys laptops to
Tax Assistance Centers (TACs), would provide effective and efficient self-service options for taxpayers. The IRS agreed with the suggestion and plans to
implement corrective actions.
A previous evaluation listed concerns that the Facilitated
Self-Assistance Kiosks at some TACs were broken. Due to these worries, GAO started a
separate evaluation to zero in on the kiosks, which are computer terminals established to provide taxpayers the
tools to help themselves to the tax agency's services.
Available services included Free File and fillable tax forms and Where’s My Refund, among others. The GAO started this evaluation to
determine the effectiveness
and efficiency of kiosks
located in TACs.
In the GAO's previous evaluation, TAC managers signaled that the contractor had a slow response time to service requests. Kiosks were left inoperable for long
periods of time. The lack of proper oversight of the contract resulted in
the IRS paying approximately $500,000 annually to a contractor that did
not timely perform the necessary services for the kiosks to remain
operational. After the GAO told IRS management about its concerns, management signaled that it intends to was to work with the existing contractor to make the
kiosks operational by Dec. 31, 2024.
In Jan. 2025, that GAO visited
eight TACs that were not operable kiosks and found out that the machines still did not work, the report said. The GAO found out that the IRS did not exercise the contract’s 2025 option year, and the agency was discontinuing the kiosk
program. IRS management did not express their intentions to cancel the contract until
after GAO expressed its reservations regarding that the number of inoperable kiosks.
The GAO then stated that, although they support the IRS’s decision to discontinue the current kiosk
program, GAO thinks that providing taxpayers a self-service option can be
advantageous as the IRS undergoes staff reduction and restructuring.
As part of its initiatives to
transform tax administration,
an area of focus for the IRS is the accessibility and
availability of taxpayer
services. Kiosks offer more service options by
giving taxpayer more alternatives for self-service
assistance.