Tax Administration: Better Training Needed for IRS' New Telephone Assistors
GGD-91-83
Published: Jun 12, 1991. Publicly Released: Jun 12, 1991.
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Highlights
GAO reviewed the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) training program for new telephone assistors, whose purpose is to assist taxpayers with questions regarding tax law, their accounts, and other issues relating to filing their tax returns.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Internal Revenue Service | The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should ensure that IRS develops a corps of skilled and experienced people to provide the nucleus for each year's task force. |
IRS has developed a checklist that outlines the tasks and expectations needed to update training. A longer training session to better prepare task force members is now conducted and more specific training is provided for task force members with recurring involvement.
|
| Internal Revenue Service | The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should ensure that IRS provides the additional training in writing, course development, and task force expectations to ensure that all task force members are properly prepared. |
IRS has taken action to provide more training in writing and course development skills to task force members.
|
| Internal Revenue Service | The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should ensure that IRS provides adequate clerical assistance for each task force. |
IRS agrees and has contracted with a vendor to provide adequate clerical assistance for the task forces.
|
| Internal Revenue Service | To improve the Phase 1 course materials, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should ensure that IRS assesses each year's course material revisions and conduct sufficient evaluation to ensure that the revisions are technically accurate and effectively convey the intended subject matter. |
IRS has implemented the Training Development Quality Assurance System for assessment and evaluation of course materials.
|
| Internal Revenue Service | To improve the Phase 1 course materials, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should ensure that IRS tests a sample of trainees to determine their average reading grade levels and, if necessary, revise the training materials to be as consistent as possible with trainees' reading abilities. |
IRS did not agree with this recommendation. IRS stated that its tests of student and instructor guides, which it considered course material, showed that these materials did not exceed the ninth grade reading level. IRS stated that, although Publication 17 is used extensively for reading assignments and on the job, it is not considered a part of the course materials.
|
| Internal Revenue Service | The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should take steps to reduce the number of yes/no questions used on tax law tests and add questions that test probing skills. |
IRS has rewritten tax law tests reducing the number of yes/no questions significantly. Probing questions were not added because of legal problems.
|
| Internal Revenue Service | The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should take steps to require trainees to pass all of the tax law objectives tested. |
IRS stated that objectives not met in class are certified in OJT and that slower learners may successfully master all objectives in this post-classroom phase. IRS did not intend to implement this recommendation.
|
| Internal Revenue Service | The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should ensure that comprehensive and useful trainee classroom performance information is recorded in student development guides and communicated to OJT instructors for use in planning OJT remedial training. |
IRS has reinforced existing guidance to ensure that trainee classroom performance information is recorded and communicated to OJT instructors.
|
| Internal Revenue Service | The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should ensure that classroom instructors include sufficient exercises to provide them with adequate opportunity to observe and document trainee weaknesses. |
IRS has reinforced existing guidance to ensure that classroom instructors include exercises that allow the opportunity to observe and document trainee weaknesses.
|
| Internal Revenue Service | The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should ensure that IRS provides OJT interspersed with classroom activities whenever feasible. |
IRS has implemented an approach where OJT is interspersed with classroom work, as GAO recommended.
|
| Internal Revenue Service | The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should ensure that IRS defines satisfactory and unsatisfactory performance on untested objectives so instructors can better identify, document, and remedy trainee weaknesses. |
IRS has developed ways to provide instructors with a better basis to measure trainee performance on untested objectives.
|
| Internal Revenue Service | The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should ensure that OJT instructors attend appropriate and adequate training to plan and administer OJT. |
IRS has issued new guidance to ensure that OJT instructors attend appropriate training to plan and administer OJT. This action was taken on February 7, 1992.
|
| Internal Revenue Service | The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should ensure that IRS develops a comprehensive job simulating OJT test that is based on standard minimum performance criteria and measures job skills and performance before certification. |
IRS has implemented a job simulation test to measure trainee performance before certification, as GAO recommended. The test is part of the process to certify that a student has completed OJT.
|
| Internal Revenue Service | The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should ensure that IRS eliminates teaching as a requirement of the taxpayer service specialist (TSS) position. |
IRS has taken steps to eliminate teaching as a requirement for the TSS position.
|
| Internal Revenue Service | The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should ensure that IRS competitively selects instructors on the basis of ability and interest. |
IRS now fills instructor positions by competitive selection.
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Customer serviceEducation program evaluationEmployee trainingOn-the-job trainingTax administrationTaxpayersTeachersTelephonesStudentsTax laws