IRS Publication Describes New System Used
to Answer Taxpayers Questions

WASHINGTON - A new computerized system to improve the accuracy of IRS responses to taxpayer's technical tax questions is described in the 1990 edition of the Internal Revenue Service publication, Trend Analyses and Related Statistics.

The new system uses artificial intelligence technology to incorporate expert knowledge on hundreds of different tax topics. When a taxpayer calls IRS, the system prompts the assistor with a series of questions. Based on the taxpayer's response to these questions, the system generates and justifies its answer.

A comprehensive test of the system at the IRS toll-free call site in Boston resulted in substantial improvement of the accuracy and completeness of IRS answers to taxpayers' questions. The test will be expanded to the Philadelphia call site during the 1991 filing season.

Other articles covered in publication 1500 (formerly document 6011) are: public perceptions of the Tax Reform Act of 1986, the effect of taxpayer assistance on compliance, the impact of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 on the filing of individual tax returns and the impact of requiring SSNs for dependents on the number of dependents claimed on tax returns.

The publication also includes: abstracts of recent IRS studies in tax administration; highlights of current economic, demographic and technological trends; and statistics on employment, income, population, and tax return filings (both actual and projected) for the United States and for IRS regions, districts and service centers.

Trend Analysis and Related Statistics, Publication 1500, can be purchased for $9.00 and by writing to the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 20402. Please include stock number 048-004-022 97-4 with your order.

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