Cash Back Does the TaxPayer Experience

Public Invited to Imagine the Taxpayer Experience of the Future

IR-2016-53, March 30, 2016

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today announced the upcoming start of its first Tax Design Challenge crowdsourcing competition to encourage innovative ideas for the taxpayer experience of the future.

The effort, being done in coordination with the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), is a crowdsourcing competition open to the public. The competition will engage teams of designers, developers, and innovative thinkers across the U.S. to envision options for taxpayer interactions.

“Crowdsourcing is a new activity for the IRS, but we believe working with citizens and the private sector will help support innovation in an important area for the nation’s tax system,” said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. “The Tax Design Challenge reflects our commitment to find the best ideas and plan for a future state of tax administration that works well for taxpayers and our partners.”

The three-week competition invites the public to imagine the taxpayer experience of the future and specifically design an online experience that better organizes and presents a person’s tax information.  The goal is to make it easier for a person to manage their tax responsibilities, and use their own tax data to make informed and effective decisions about their personal finances.

“At MBA, one of our goals is to help families achieve home ownership, and the ability to safely obtain and share one’s own tax information is critical to that process. Ultimately, the designs produced through this competition could help millions of Americans securely interact with our tax system faster and easier,” said David H. Stevens, CMB, President and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Submissions will be accepted starting April 17 through May 10, 2016. Participants must first register on the website www.taxdesignchallenge.com.

One Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *