GAO reviewed the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) plans to maximize electronic filing, focusing on: (1) IRS progress in broadening the use of electronic filing; (2) the availability of data needed to develop an electronic filing strategy; and (3) the implications for IRS if it does not significantly reduce its paper-processing workload.

GAO found that: (1) IRS will fall far short of its 2001 goal of 80 million electronic returns if the increase in electronic filing continues at its present pace; (2) IRS believes the decrease in the number of returns filed electronically in 1995 was due to its actions against electronic filing fraud; (3) IRS is having little success in increasing the electronic filing of individual 1040 and business tax returns which constitute the bulk of returns and take the most time to process manually; (4) the transmittal fees for electronic filing tend to deter filers unless they need their tax refunds quickly; (5) IRS does not have the data needed to determine whether greater electronic filings of 1040 and business returns would reduce its administrative costs; (6) IRS has contracted to gather some data on why taxpayers do not use electronic filing more and how many returns it could expect if it could motivate people to file electronically; (7) IRS plans to use scanning more to process paper returns, which should reduce some costs; and (9) unless IRS can increase electronic filing, its customer service and paper processing workloads may overwhelm its planned staffing and alter various aspects of its modernization efforts.

Click here for the full GAO Report, PDF Version, 31pgs. 190K