Tax season is officially upon us, meaning more Americans are interacting now with the Internal Revenue Service. Well, the IRS is hoping to make that experience a favorable one, and a former attorney at Lane & Waterman, in Davenport, has taken on a key role in the effort. In December, the IRS announced that Courtney […]
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Tax season is officially upon us, meaning more Americans are interacting now with the Internal Revenue Service.
Well, the IRS is hoping to make that experience a favorable one, and a former attorney at Lane & Waterman, in Davenport, has taken on a key role in the effort. In December, the IRS announced that Courtney Kay-Decker had been appointed deputy chief of the Taxpayer Experience Office.
Ms. Kay-Decker, who has a degree in economics from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and a law degree from the University of Iowa, previously worked at Lane & Waterman where her areas of practice included tax and administrative matters. She also was director of the Iowa Department of Revenue from 2011 to 2019.
The IRS says the Taxpayer Experience Office is part of a longer-term effort to improve service.
Last March, the IRS officially announced formation of the office with then-IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig saying the idea was to “unify and expand efforts across the IRS to improve service.”
“Ultimately, the role of the Taxpayer Experience Office is to help our taxpayers navigate the challenges of filing and participating in our tax system in the best way possible,” Ms. Kay-Decker said in a recent telephone interview with the QCBJ. “So, we are focused on more than just customer service; we’re focused on customer experience and finding ways to meet the taxpayer where they are.”
The Taxpayer Experience Office is a strategic enterprise that looks across the agency for successes that can be replicated. Ms. Kay-Decker leads a group of about 100 people – strategists, data analysts and project and outreach teams – who collaborate to track and analyze interactions with taxpayers.
According to the office, among its key strategies are:
- Expanding digital services, including online accounts to enable self service.
- Creating a “seamless experience” integrating service channels so taxpayers can get to resources and better resolve issues.
- Building a network of partnerships “across the tax community” to share best practices.
