Making a Noticeable Difference Presentation to the Monthly PLAIN Meeting March 9, 2011 Presented by: Jodi Patterson Director, Office of Taxpayer Correspondence.

Making a Noticeable Difference

Presentation to the

Monthly PLAIN MeetingMarch 9, 2011

Presented by:

Jodi Patterson

Director, Office of Taxpayer Correspondence

Internal Revenue Service

2

A need for simplified communications during a time of increasing complexity…

Need for Simplicity

• World-class financial organizations have raised taxpayer expectations for correspondence quality

• Research shows that complexity and lack of transparency played a significant role in the financial crisis -- the public is demanding more plain language communications

• Economic climate is triggering need for more correspondence – and more sensitively worded

• Need to balance expectations for new ways to communicate with potential security and privacy risks

• Tax code is increasingly complex

Increasing Complexity

3

What’s wrong with IRS taxpayer correspondence? A picture is worth a 1,000 words…

4

Many factors contributed to the “notice problem,” including a complex environment with more than 120 notice authors, multiple systems, 1000 different notices and 200+ million notices sent annually

Impacts

• Unnecessary burden on taxpayers

• Taxpayer confusion

• Does not consistently achieve intended results

501/28/2010

The vision: deliver correspondence to taxpayers that is…

Understandable Written for the average taxpayer – not a professional tax preparer

Consistent Presents a consistent visual “look & feel” , with all notices and letters migrated to the new design standard

Relevant Taxpayers only receive correspondence and inserts that are relevant at that time

Unneeded correspondence/inserts are eliminated

Respectful Tone should be respectful to engender trust and a sense of professionalism, transparency

Respect taxpayers time by providing them information to quickly resolve their issue

Appropriate Modulates the tone, so it reflects the circumstance in the context of the notice lifecycle (e.g., collections process)

Helpful Provides clear guidance to taxpayers on next steps and references to other resources

Provides Spanish versions of notices as appropriate

Tailored Includes only content that is relevant to that particular taxpayer and suppresses the rest

Seamless Provides effective pointers to additional resources across all channels (e.g., IRS.gov), regardless of business unit, and all content/advice is consistent

Accurate Includes the need to keep content fresh and up-to-date with correct phone numbers and resource referrals

Electronic Long-term, will transition select notices to electronic format, consistent with customer preferences, as the technical, security, and legal capabilities and constraints allow

Multilingual Translated in 5 key languages on IRS.gov for access by those with limited English proficiency (Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean and Russian); Correspondence delivered in other languages such as Spanish according to Multilingual Strategy

6

The design concept for revised correspondence was developed deliberatively and tested with taxpayers

IRS and Siegel+Gale held focus interviews with multiple stakeholder groups to obtain input: Practitioners Low Income Tax Clinic representatives CSRs (employees in the call sites Walk-in office employees Other employees who interact with taxpayers responding to notices

Siegel+Gale developed the design based on best practices, tested it for comprehension and simplicity and revised the design based on the test results Nine prototype were tested with approximately 400 unique taxpayers Continual testing on select redesigned notices

The design and concept was approved by the IRS Senior Leadership in 2009

7

The new correspondence design is based on best practices to ensure it is understandable and effective

Common Features

• Consistent Framework

• Logical Flow

• Layout and design aid readability and comprehension

• Modulates tone to reflect the circumstance

• The redesigned notices explain:

• Why the notice was sent

• How the taxpayer should respond

• What the consequence is if the taxpayer does not respond

• Where to find additional resources, publications, and services

8

The new correspondence was tested for comprehension and vetted extensively to help increase desired taxpayer behavior in response to notices and letters

Consequences of non-response are clear

The “Additional Information” section refers to other resources and publications, helping to ensure a seamless taxpayer service experience

Provides taxpayers with a standard set of payment options to achieve case resolution – new emphasis is to provide options as early in the notice lifecycle as possible. In addition, notices will direct taxpayers seeking installment agreements to the online payment agreement application on irs.gov and encourage use of direct debit option for monthly payment

9

Taxpayer Outcomes Reduction in taxpayer burden Reduced penalty and interest payments

through faster resolution of issues Increased taxpayer/practitioner

satisfaction

Business Outcomes Faster resolution of taxpayer cases Improved taxpayer compliance Cost savings

Postage and printing costsReduced phone traffic Increased process efficiencies

Improvements in taxpayer correspondence should lead to both taxpayer- and business-focused outcomes

1001/28/2010

To determine business results, notice effectiveness research follows a multi-leveled framework based on measurement goals and notice evaluation

Level 1: Establish baseline effectiveness• Collect background information and catalogue

notice communication goals, business rules• Identify 1-2 effectiveness measures for each notice• Collect and catalogue measures on an ongoing

basis • Determine present-state effectiveness• Completed for all notices/letters

Level 3: Notice language re-evaluation “Deep Dive”

• Utilized when effectiveness results are below expectations • Complete detailed notice process maps linking taxpayer

behavior to notice language• Conduct comprehension testing on notice language• Revise/rewrite notice language• Repeat Level 2 evaluation following reissuance of notice • Completed yearly for a select number of notices/letters

Notices move to Level 2 following

issuance of a redesigned notice

Level 2: Determine effect of notice redesign • Collect and catalogue effectiveness measures following

issuance of redesigned notices• Determine effectiveness of redesigned notices• Determine operational and taxpayer impact of notice

redesign• Completed for all redesigned notices/letters

Notices move to Level 3 when effectiveness

results are below expectations

Level 1

All notices

Level 1

All notices

Level 2

Redesigned notices

Level 2

Redesigned notices

Level 3

Select notices

Level 3

Select notices

11

Notices point taxpayers directly to relevant, accurate content associated with the notice they received

www.irs.gov/cp08

Action-based link descriptions lead to helpful resources

Intention is to provide information to reinforce the notice – not recreate it

Answers to common questions are specific and grounded in tangible user needs

Tips offer ideas to help taxpayers succeed in coming years

New IRS.gov Notice Pages

12

A lot of progress in two years, but still a long way to go…

Goal is to convert all notices and letters to new plain language format

More than 85 notices converted – accounts for more than 50 percent of volume

Working with research functions to measure outcomes

Created a new centralized correspondence office to continue and sustain the work

13

If you have any questions, please contact:

Jodi Patterson, Director, Office of Taxpayer [email protected]

“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.”

Albert Einstein