Truth is Stranger Than Fiction

This totally cracks me up. 

 First there’s a report from the Treasury Inspector General’s Office that 23% of electronic returns filed using a new and improved (at an estimated cost of $574 million) E-Filing system were rejected.  To be fair, the glitch occurred in February and was corrected before filing volume went crazy.  Then there’s the news that the IRS made a mistake in calculating the amount of tax owed in a big Tax Court case. (The $325 million dollar error means a company that owns Retirement Communities does not owe $128 million in back taxes.) 

So, it appears the national bean counters can’t add and can’t properly test the technology used to keep track of the bazillion dollars worth of tax return information that goes through their doors each year.  However, in a customer satisfaction survey, IRS e-filing scores higher than Facebook for providing a positive customer experience! 

 Now, don’t get me wrong.  I’m not against giving taxpayers a positive experience while they’re paying up.  Still, when hiring for the IRS do we really need people with stronger social sensibilities than technical competencies?  Perhaps a checkbox on the tax return where contributions can be sent to the Office of Personnel Management in Washington D.C. to help with IRS job screening criteria will help.  LOL