IRS will start simplifying its notices to taxpayers as agency continues modernization push

WASHINGTON — The IRS wants to rewrite its complicated letters to taxpayers and speak to people in plain English. The federal tax collector is rewriting and sending out commonly received notices ahead of the 2024 tax filing season as part of its new “Simple Notice Initiative.” “Redesigned notices will be shorter, clearer and easier to understand,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on a Tuesday call with reporters to preview the initiative. Simpler notices in plain language will help people understand their tax liability and improve tax enforcement, said IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel, who said the initiative is paid for with funding from Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act. And as the IRS pilots its new electronic free file tax return system starting in 2024, the agency will be able to process everything, including tax returns, digitally by 2025. “We need to put more of these letters into plain language— something an average person can understand” Werfel said, which will help the agency more effectively in its collection aims.