IRS uses Web to make up for lost time

The Internal Revenue Service is pushing taxpayers to the Web for the latest filing information after the 109th Congress passed last-minute legislation that delayed the IRS’ ability to distribute paper instructions for the tax filing season.

The previous Congress passed the Tax Relief and Health Care Act the day before it adjourned. The bill renews and extends tax cuts, including the college tuition deduction and the research and development tax credit.

But the information is not on the IRS documents already at the printer.

“Unless taxpayers are willing to get on the Internet and search, they may never know that we extended these [tax] incentives in the nick of time,” said Sen. Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, just before Congress adjourned last year.

IRS Commissioner Mark Everson wrote in a Dec. 5, 2006, letter to Baucus that the individual tax form, Form 1040, was already being printed. Tax legislation passed after Oct. 31 risks hindering the IRS’ ability to meet tax filing season needs, such as distributing up-to-date information and on-time returns. He estimated that updating the forms would cost more than $2 million.

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