Recommendation: The Assistant General Counsel should provide additional information on the process OACP uses to investigate potential consumer protection violations, to assess risk, and to pursue enforcement actions and establish a timeframe for doing so. Such transparency could be provided through the handbook that OACP is currently drafting or through other public means such as providing additional information on its website. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Transportation: Office of Aviation Consumer Protection
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Assistant General Counsel should take steps to provide transparency and clarity into the results of OACP's enforcement of consume including investigations that do not result in a consent order. Such information could be aggregated data about cases, investigations, or warning letters. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Transportation: Office of Aviation Consumer Protection
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should identify agency-wide and division performance goals that align with IRS's strategic service goals and objectives for an improved taxpayer experience. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should identify performance measures with targets for improving the taxpayer experience that link with the related performance goals. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should ensure that the taxpayer experience measures cover all of the factors for customer service identified in OMB guidance as well as service channels across the tax process phases. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should ensure that taxpayer experience measures reflect the highest-impact taxpayer journeys and key transactions, as consistent with OMB guidance. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should regularly analyze and use the results of the performance measures and surveys on the taxpayer experience to help improve performance. (Recommendation 5)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should develop processes for using performance results on the taxpayer experience as part of resource allocation decisions intended to improve performance. (Recommendation 6)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should publicly report available information on taxpayer experience performance, including the measures and related targets, for example by providing it on IRS.gov and in IRS publications. (Recommendation 7)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment, in collaboration with the military departments, provide updated guidance for the oversight of privatized military housing, to include oversight objectives for each service to monitor the physical condition of privatized homes over the remaining duration of the ground leases. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Defense: Office of the Secretary of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Defense (DOD) concurred with this recommendation. In its August 2020 response, DOD noted that the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment (ASD (S)), as the Chief Housing Officer, issued guidance requiring the military departments to monitor work order completion for housing privatized under the Military Housing Privatization Initiative based on a combination of resident input, timeliness of work order completion, and number of repeat work orders for the same repair. The guidance also required increased tracking of MHPI project work orders by installation staff. Moving forward, the ASD(S) plans to issue quarterly program review guidance that establishes oversight objectives for the military departments to monitor the physical condition of MHPI housing over the duration of their project ground leases, formalizing the requirement that the data be monitored by the Chief Housing Officer. DOD expects this to be completed by December 2020. We will continue to monitor the status of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Army should take steps, in collaboration with the Army's private housing partners, to review the indicators underlying the privatized housing project performance metrics to ensure they provide an accurate reflection of the condition and quality of the homes. (Recommendation 2

Agency: Department of Defense: Department of the Army: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Defense (DOD) concurred with this recommendation. In its August 2020 response, DOD noted that the Secretary of the Army has taken several steps toward addressing this recommendation. For example, the Army published the Portfolio and Asset Management Handbook creating a multi-tiered assessment approach of performance metrics to measure the health of each privatized home through inspection, assessment, satisfaction, and feedback. The Army and the private housing partners revised the Incentive Fee Performance Management Plan, placing increased emphasis on resident satisfaction and work order/maintenance management. The Army also put Commanders in charge, ensuring Army leadership at every Army installation is tracking housing quality and safety. In late 2020, the Army plans to review and evaluate these actions and make a determination by 31 Jan 2021 if any changes or revisions are needed to best implement the recommendation. As such, we will continue to monitor the status of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Air Force should take steps, in collaboration with the Air Force's private housing partners, to review the indicators underlying the privatized housing project performance metrics to ensure they provide an accurate reflection of the condition and quality of the homes. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of Defense: Department of the Air Force: Office of the Secretary of the Air Force
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Defense (DOD) concurred with this recommendation. In its August 2020 response, DOD noted that the Air Force is engaging in several steps to address this recommendation. Specifically, in March 2020, the Air Force tasked each of the Military Housing Offices to inspect all move-in, move-out, and change of occupancy maintenance events and all emergency, urgent, and life, health, and safety work orders, which is outlined in Air Force guidance. The Air Force is also engaging in several ongoing actions. In response to a memo to the military departments to provide consistency of performance incentive fees, the Air Force was negotiating with the privatized housing project owners to update performance incentive fee metrics in accordance with ASD directed categories and weightings. As of August 2020, agreements had been finalized with 2 partners and work was ongoing with the remaining partners. In addition, the Air Force was working with the project owners to deploy Satisfacts, a survey tool to independently measure resident satisfaction with projects' work order performance, across all Air Force projects with an expected completion by December 2020. We will continue to monitor the status of these recommendations.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Navy should take steps, in collaboration with the Navy and Marine Corps' private housing partners, to review the indicators underlying the privatized housing project performance metrics to ensure they provide an accurate reflection of the condition and quality of the homes. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of Defense: Department of the Navy: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Defense (DOD) concurred with this recommendation. In its August 2020 response, DOD noted that the Navy and Marine Corps are engaging in several steps to address this recommendation. Specifically, the Navy and Marine Corps have developed a centralized electronic data warehouse, which receives data from privatized housing partner maintenance systems to display work order and survey performance dashboards. By February 2021, the Navy expects to complete the development of metrics displayed by the data warehouse to include key service call performance metrics and resident feedback data. The Navy and Marine Corps are also developing a web-based monitoring matrix tool housing officials can use to evaluate the performance of privatized housing partners. The tool is intended to provide improved tracking capabilities and improved accessibility to information, thus providing more consistent oversight and improved advocacy service members and their families. The Navy is also working to hire 247 additional Navy and Marine Corps housing staff to review and analyze private partner provided recurring maintenance and customer satisfaction reports in an effort to strengthen oversight and monitoring, with an estimated completion of September 2020. Moving forward, we will continue to monitor the status of these and other efforts.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment, in collaboration with the military departments and private housing partners, establish minimum data requirements and consistent terminology and practices for work order data collection for comparability across installations and projects and to track trends over time. (Recommendation 5)

Agency: Department of Defense: Office of the Secretary of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: e Department of Defense (DOD) partially concurred with this recommendation. In its August 2020 response, DOD stated that the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment (ASD(S)), as the Chief Housing Officer, plans to issue a policy directing the military departments to establish, to the maximum extent practical, minimum data requirements and consistent terminology and practices for MHPI housing unit work order collection to aid in comparability across installations and projects, and for tracking trends over time. However, DOD noted that the department cannot mandate changes to existing MHPI project legal documents. DOD estimates that this effort will be completed by December 2021. We will continue to monitor the status of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment require the military departments to establish a process to validate data collected by the private housing partners to better ensure the reliability and validity of work order data and to allow for more effective use of these data for monitoring and tracking purposes. (Recommendation 6)

Agency: Department of Defense: Office of the Secretary of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Defense (DOD) concurred with this recommendation. In its August 2020 response, DOD noted that the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment (ASD(S)), as the Chief Housing Officer, issued guidance directing the military departments to exercise proper oversight to ensure Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI) projects perform in accordance with legal agreements, to include due diligence in monitoring and auditing project maintenance records and other project performance data. The guidance also required military departments to review their entire portfolios of MHPI projects to ensure accurate and appropriate work order management processes. In response to the new guidance, DOD noted that the military departments put in place appropriate oversight measures and undertook the required reviews, though the investigations of project business practices were ongoing in some cases. As another step, the ASD(S) plans to issue guidance directing the military departments to establish a process to validate data collected by their respective MHPI Project Owners to better ensure the reliability and validity of work order data and to allow for more effective use of these data for monitoring and tracking purposes. DOD expects this to be completed by the end of September 2020. We will continue to monitor the status of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Defense should ensure the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment, in collaboration with the military departments, develop a process for collecting and calculating resident satisfaction data from the military departments to ensure that the data are compiled and calculated in a standardized and accurate way. (Recommendation 7)

Agency: Department of Defense: Office of the Secretary of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Defense (DOD) partially concurred with this recommendation based on the fact that the draft report listed the incorrect office as the source for addressing the deficiency, but subsequently changed its response to concur after the recommendation was directed to the appropriate office in the final report. In its August 2020 response, DOD noted that the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment (ASD(S)) plans to issue guidance establishing a department-wide process for collecting and calculating resident satisfaction data to ensure that the data are compiled and calculated in a standardized and accurate way effective with the survey collection effort in Fiscal Year 2021. The department expects this effort to be completed by October 2020. We will continue to monitor the status of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Defense should ensure the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment provides additional explanation of the data collected and reported in future reports to Congress, such as explaining the limitations of available survey data, how resident satisfaction was calculated, and reasons for any missing data, among other things. (Recommendation 8)

Agency: Department of Defense: Office of the Secretary of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Defense (DOD) partially concurred with this recommendation. In its August 2020 response, DOD noted that the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment (ASD(S)) would provide additional explanation of the MHPI resident satisfaction data collected and reported in future annual Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI) reports to Congress, effective with the annual report covering fiscal year 2019. DOD noted that the additional information will include, among other things, an explanation of the limitations of available survey data, how resident satisfaction was calculated, and reasons for any missing data. As of August 2020, the annual MHPI report covering fiscal year 2018 was in final coordination and the department noted that the report would addresses a vast majority, but not all, of the requirements identified in our recommendation. DOD noted that the additional information would be provided in the next annual MHPI report. We will continue to monitor the status of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Army should develop and implement a plan to clearly and systematically communicate to residents the difference between the military housing office and the private partner. At a minimum, these plans should include the Army housing office's roles, responsibilities, locations, and contact information and should ensure that all residents are aware that they can directly contact Army housing office officials. (Recommendation 9)

Agency: Department of Defense: Department of the Army: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Defense (DOD) concurred with this recommendation. In its response, DOD noted that the Army developed a "Plain Language" briefing as required by the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act that included the Army Housing Office's roles, responsibilities, location, and contact information at each privatized housing project site. DOD noted that the intent of the briefing was to ensure that all residents were aware of their ability to directly contact Army Housing Office and/or the Garrison Commanders. DOD stated that the briefing was disseminated to all of the Military Housing Offices, who are using it in newcomer briefings, and stated that the briefing would be provided to all current residents of privatized military housing, but that measure would not be tracked due to attrition. In addition, DOD noted that Headquarters, Department of the Army was tasking Army Materiel Command to develop a more detailed plan to communicate to residents the difference between the Army Housing Office and the private housing partner. The Army's intent is to not only capture residents upon their arrival at an installation, but making the services of the MHO known over the duration of a resident's time on at installation. We will continue to monitor the status of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Navy should develop and implement a plan to clearly and systematically communicate to residents the difference between the military housing office and the private partner. At a minimum, these plans should include the Navy housing office's roles, responsibilities, locations, and contact information and should ensure that all residents are aware that they can directly contact Navy housing office officials. (Recommendation 11)

Agency: Department of Defense: Department of the Navy: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Defense (DOD) concurred with this recommendation. In its August 2020 response, DOD noted that the Navy has taken various steps to address this recommendation, with additional steps planned. For example, the Navy has ensured that each installation has a specific issue resolution process description marketing flyer available, both in hard copy and on the public housing websites, with a reminder that residents can contact both the privatized housing property manager and the Navy housing office with any issues. Moreover, every housing unit has been provided with a refrigerator magnet reminding residents that they can and should contact the Navy housing office if they have any issues with their home. In addition, the Navy and Marine Corps have established a requirement to contact each privatized housing resident not later than 15 days after move-in and again 60 days after move-in to provide an opportunity to request assistance and remind them of available support. Moving forward, the Navy has an ongoing effort to require private housing companies to market the same messaging as the service issue resolution processes for the MHOs that they support, for consistent advocacy messaging to the tenants. The information will be added to PPV partner websites, printed material and resident handbooks. The Navy also plans to use its annual survey to tracks resident satisfaction and awareness of the Navy's issue resolution process, with expected completion by October 2020. In addition, the Marine Corps has identified a near-term initiative to procure name tags for all MHO employees to wear, identifying themselves as distinct and separate from privatized housing property management company, which will be standardized across all USMC installations. The Marine Corps also plans to develop a standard welcome aboard package to include magnets and other items with key point of contact information. The Marine Corps expects these efforts to be completed by the end of September 2020.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment, in collaboration with the military departments, assess the risks of proposed initiatives aimed at improving the privatized military housing program on the financial viability of the projects. (Recommendation 12)

Agency: Department of Defense: Office of the Secretary of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Defense (DOD) concurred with this recommendation. In its August 2020 response, DOD noted that the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment, as the Chief Housing Officer, planned to issue a policy establishing the assessment of Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI) project financial viability as part of quarterly program reviews as a long-term requirement. The department noted that the program review data would be augmented by input from the MHPI companies, who are assessing the likely impact of proposed initiatives in conjunction with their third party lenders. The department expected this effort to be completed by December 2020. We will continue to monitor the status of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Agriculture should direct Departmental Administration to work with the mission areas to develop department-level outcome-oriented performance goals and related measures for the business centers, and use them to assess the effectiveness and impact of the business center reforms. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Agriculture
Status: Open

Comments: In January 2020, USDA officials agreed with our recommendation and stated that the department is evaluating options for the development of performance metrics and inclusion of these metrics and related information as part of the regular and recurring reviews by the department's Deputy Secretary who is identified as the Chief Operating Officer.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should make publicly available, such as on its website, a list of tax topics considered out of scope for CSRs to answer on the telephone, as well as include references for how and where to find information about these topics. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: IRS agreed with this recommendation and said it would make out-of-scope topics more readily available for taxpayers.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should reconcile authority and implement procedures for routinely reviewing the English versions of IRS's most commonly used vital tax products and web pages to ensure that information is included in commonly encountered languages about where taxpayers with LEP can obtain the translated content. If such content is not translated, the products and web pages should include information about where taxpayers with LEP can obtain language assistance from IRS. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: IRS neither agreed nor disagreed with this recommendation. In commenting on the draft report, IRS said the recommendation affects multiple stakeholders and IRS is evaluating the recommendation and actions for implementation. IRS said it would provide additional details at a later time.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should reconcile authority and implement procedures for routinely reviewing its multilingual web pages to effectively prevent, or detect and correct, errors such as incorrect or outdated information. For example, these procedures could call for the divisions to work with the Linguistics, Policy, Tools, & Services (LPTS) section whenever the English version of translated content is updated. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: IRS agreed with this recommendation, saying each business unit would be required to work with the Linguistic Policy, Tools and Services Section whenever the English version of translated content is updated. IRS also said interpreting the Form 1040 into different languages would be a major accomplishment that it wishes to achieve in the near future.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should conduct the four-factor assessment of its language services to persons with LEP for its most commonly used vital tax products to determine (1) which products should be translated and into what languages, and (2) what interpretation assistance will be provided to arrive at the appropriate mix of translation and interpretation services. IRS should document these assessments, including the determinations it made, and take action as appropriate based on these assessments. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: IRS neither agreed nor disagreed with this recommendation. In commenting on the draft report, IRS said the recommendation affects multiple stakeholders and IRS is evaluating the recommendation and actions for implementation. IRS said it would provide additional details at a later time.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should collect and use employee input on the strengths and weaknesses of its customer service training, including on whether training is effective in improving CSRs' performance, to inform changes to its training program and strategy under the Taxpayer First Act. (Recommendation 5)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: IRS agreed with this recommendation and said it would review the employee training evaluation process to determine what steps can be taken to improve training, such as making certain evaluations mandatory for employees and updating the surveys with more focused questions in order to get more substantial feedback.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should direct the Wage and Investment division to develop and implement a strategy, in collaboration with its strategic workforce planning initiative, for the efficient use of overtime. (Recommendation 6)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: IRS agreed with this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should further assess the increase in "system downtime" and identify possible solutions to mitigate any problems and reduce system downtime. (Recommendation 7)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: IRS agreed with this recommendation. In commenting on the draft report, IRS said it completed a further assessment after our audit and identified potential contributing factors. IRS said it implemented changes to the call center environment and was updating the Customer Service Representative technology platform to further improve system availability.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should perform regular monitoring of fluctuations in system downtime charges, such as increases overall or by specific units, to determine what, if any, factors are interrupting CSRs' work. (Recommendation 8)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: IRS said it agreed with this recommendation and would monitor the system downtime reported by the Customer Service Representatives (CSR) in Customer Account Services. In commenting on the draft report, IRS said it had implemented changes to the call center environment and was updating the CSR technology platform to further improve system availability.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of the IRS should ensure that information is collected on taxpayers' experiences with all online services and the extent to which the services are meeting taxpayers' needs. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: IRS agreed with this recommendation. In June 2020, IRS reported that it intends to "implement new surveys to better capture customer experience data" with its online services. To this end, IRS in March 2020 published a notice in the Federal Register stating that it intends to seek approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on collecting information in a manner consistent with section 280 of OMB's Circular A-11 intended to improve the customer experience with federal services. Among other requirements, section 280 of Circular A-11 directs agencies to collect feedback from customers. IRS states that it intends to complete this process and fully address the recommendation by the end of calendar year 2021. We will continue to monitor IRS's efforts to address this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of the IRS should ensure that information collected on taxpayers' experiences with online services is summarized in the document serving as IRS's performance plan and report. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: IRS agreed with this recommendation. In June 2020, IRS reported that it is working to "implement new surveys to better capture customer experience data" and intends to publish this information on Performance.gov. Further, IRS states that it "will evaluate and identify the most appropriate medium each year for publication of data based on statutory and other requirements" and expects to fully address this recommendation by November 15, 2022. Section 280 of the Office of Management and Budget's Circular A-11 states that in addition to publishing this information on Performance.gov, agencies should also summarize this information in performance plans and reports. We will continue to monitor IRS's efforts to address this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of the IRS should direct the Director of OLS and the Chief Research and Analytics Officer to work together to analyze the potential effects of online services on taxpayer burden. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: IRS agreed with this recommendation. In June 2020, IRS reported two planned actions to address this: 1) IRS will conduct comparative analyses of the current Individual Taxpayer Burden and Taxpayer Compliance Burden surveys and expects to complete this by September 30, 2020; and 2) IRS will implement new customer experience surveys to better capture comparative data relating to user perceptions of the ease and effectiveness of both online and traditional interactions and expects to complete this by the end of calendar year 2021. We will continue to monitor IRS's efforts to address this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of the IRS should ensure that taxpayer input is included as an element of IRS's identification and prioritization process for new online services. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: IRS agreed with the recommendation. In June 2020, IRS reported that it plans to introduce new survey methods to obtain taxpayer input regarding potential new online services. One specific example IRS provided was testing a new version of the irs.gov satisfaction survey. This new version, which was launched in January 2020, asks respondents what additional online services taxpayers would like and solicits suggestions from taxpayers for improving IRS's online services. IRS stated that it is currently evaluating this new survey method. IRS expects to fully address the recommendation by the end of calendar year 2021. We will continue to monitor IRS's efforts to address this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of the IRS should work with relevant officials to set a target to reduce taxpayer burden through the development of new online services. (Recommendation 5)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: IRS did not agree with this recommendation. In June 2020, IRS stated that it will analyze the effect of online services on taxpayer burden in response to recommendation number 3 of this report. However in regards to setting a target, IRS reiterated its view that its "taxpayer burden measurement methodology is not designed to evaluate the effect of specific online services or web site enhancements." Further, IRS states that changes in tax policy (e.g., the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017) can affect taxpayer burden and it believes other factors, such as ease of use of online services, are more important to the taxpayer experience. Our report recognized that it may take time for the relevant IRS offices to review how online services may be affecting taxpayer burden. However, we continue to believe that this recommendation has merit because IRS has previously stated that it expects online services to reduce taxpayer burden, thereby contributing to one of IRS's strategic goals. Since IRS has already stated it plans to analyze the effect of online services on taxpayer burden in response to recommendation number 3, we believe it would be relatively easy for IRS to use the results of that analysis to set a more specific goal. For example, IRS in its June 2020 update refers to the time taxpayers spend using online services. A potential research question could be the extent to which taxpayers are more efficiently completing tasks using IRS's online services as IRS makes improvements to these services. We will continue to monitor IRS's efforts to address this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of the IRS should direct the Chief Information Officer and the Director of OLS to ensure that planned future capabilities of digital communication platforms are tested or piloted before deployment with a particular focus on mitigating the risks that were identified in prior pilots of digital communication services, such as challenges in establishing common objectives and enrolling taxpayers. (Recommendation 6)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: IRS agreed with this recommendation. In June 2020, IRS reported that it will apply multiple user preference and usability testing methods to the design of Taxpayer Digital Communications. For example, IRS said it surveyed visitors to IRS.gov about their views towards digital communications in the winter of 2019-2020 and in March 2020 conducted remote testing sessions with taxpayers to obtain feedback on two possible design options. IRS says additional testing may be done and expects to fully address this recommendation by November 30, 2020. We will continue to monitor IRS's efforts to address this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of the IRS should direct the Commissioner of W&I to work with the Director of OLS to ensure that future decisions regarding whether to renew the Free File agreement incorporate findings from a comprehensive examination of the benefits and costs of the agreement as it relates to long term plans for IRS's online services, including plans to file amended returns electronically. (Recommendation 7)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: Our report identified IRS's pledge to "not enter the tax preparation software and e-filing services marketplace" as a potential cost of IRS's agreement with Free File, Inc. to provide services to eligible taxpayers. Shortly after our report was issued, the Commissioner of the Wage and Investment Division signed on December 23, 2019 an addendum to the most recent agreement between IRS and Free File, Inc. which among other provisions struck the language prohibiting IRS from offering its own online filing services. Under the terms of the addendum, companies participating in Free File, Inc. will continue to provide services to eligible taxpayers subject to some new requirements, such as a prohibition on companies excluding their services from internet search engines and surveying a sample of taxpayers about their experiences. The agreement between IRS and Free File, Inc. remains scheduled to expire in October 2021. While the deletion of the language prohibiting IRS from offering its own online filing services removes a cost for IRS, our recommendation was for any future renewal of the agreement to be based on a comprehensive examination of the benefits and costs of the agreement as it relates to IRS's plans to expand online services. IRS agreed with our recommendation. In June 2020, IRS said that it "would continue to coordinate with appropriate stakeholders to assess the costs and benefits derived from the Free File agreement and incorporate findings in future agreements". In addition, several new developments have occurred related to Free File: 1) IRS used Free File, Inc. in the spring of 2020 to develop a website to identify Americans who were not required to file a 2019 tax return and may be eligible for economic impact payments pursuant to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act; 2) IRS announced in May 2020 that taxpayers will soon be able to electronically file an amended return using tax software and IRS's announcement of this planned capability refers to its agreement with Free File, Inc.; and 3) one of the ten companies which had been participating in Free File, Inc. announced it plans to leave in October 2020. We will continue to monitor IRS's efforts to address the recommendation.

Recommendation: The Chief Operating Officer of the Office of Federal Student Aid should integrate the TEPSLF request into the PSLF application, for example, by including a checkbox on the PSLF application, to provide borrowers a more seamless way to request TEPSLF consideration. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Education: Office of Federal Student Aid
Status: Open

Comments: Education agreed with this recommendation. To make the TEPSLF loan forgiveness process easier for borrowers, Education stated that it will integrate the TEPSLF request into the PSLF application as part of the improvements planned for the PSLF application under its new online interface for student borrowers. On April 15, 2020, Education published a notice in the Federal Register, seeking comments on its plans to consolidate the forms that borrowers must complete if they want to request either PSLF or TEPSLF loan forgiveness, so that borrowers would only need to submit a single form to obtain public service loan forgiveness. In June 2020, Education reported that its consolidated form to request PSLF or TESPLF loan forgiveness is in the final stages of the Office of Management and Budget clearance process, and they expect it to be finalized by October 2021. This consolidated form should provide borrowers a more seamless way to request public service loan forgiveness for whichever program they are eligible for. We will update the status of this recommendation once this consolidated loan forgiveness form is in place and borrowers are able to use it.

Recommendation: The Chief Operating Officer of the Office of Federal Student Aid should provide certain borrowers, for example, those who are denied TEPSLF for not having 120 qualifying payments, with more information about options available to contest TEPSLF decisions on the TEPSLF website and in their denial letters. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Education: Office of Federal Student Aid
Status: Open

Comments: Education agreed with this recommendation. In March 2020, Education reported that it will add language to the TEPSLF website to provide borrowers with information on available options for contesting TEPSLF decisions. With respect to including this information in denial letters, Education noted that it is creating a new student loan infrastructure (Next Gen) and that it is not worth the time and resources to update the denial letters in the old system. However, Education reported that it will incorporate this information in denial letters created in the new Next Gen infrastructure, which is expected to be in place in October 2021. We will consider closing this recommendation when Education provides documentation that it has included information about options available to contest TEPSLF decisions on the TEPSLF website and in denial letters, as recommended.

Recommendation: The Chief Operating Officer of the Office of Federal Student Aid should include TEPSLF information in its PSLF Online Help Tool. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of Education: Office of Federal Student Aid
Status: Open

Comments: Education agreed with this recommendation and stated that it will include TEPSLF information in the PSLF Help Tool. In March 2020, Education noted that it is creating a new student loan infrastructure (Next Gen) and that it is not worth the time and resources to update the PLSF Online Help tool with TEPSLF information under the old system. However, Education reported that it will respond to this recommendation when the new Next Gen infrastructure is in place, which is expected to be in place in October 2021. We will consider closing this recommendation when Education provides documentation that it has included TEPSLF information in its PSLF Online Help Tool.

Recommendation: The Office of the Secretary should assess the feasibility and cost of updating its airline case management system to address data and reporting limitations, and to undertake those updates that are cost effective and feasible. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Transportation
Status: Open

Comments: DOT concurred with this recommendation and said it would take steps to update its case management tracking system. As of June, 2020, DOT has not provided an update regarding the status of its efforts to implement this recommendation. DOT indicated the agency would provide a response in the coming months, citing delays with workloads due to COVID-19. Once DOT provides a response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Office of the Secretary should establish performance measures for each of its objectives for its five key airline-compliance activities. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of Transportation
Status: Open

Comments: DOT concurred with this recommendation and said it would take steps to establish appropriate performance measures. As of June, 2020, DOT has not provided an update regarding the status of its efforts to implement this recommendation. DOT indicated the agency would provide a response in the coming months, citing delays with workloads due to COVID-19. Once DOT provides a response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Office of the Secretary should capture feedback directly from airline passengers or identify other mechanisms to capture passengers' perspectives to inform DOT's education efforts. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of Transportation
Status: Open

Comments: DOT concurred with this recommendation and said it would take steps to capture feedback directly from consumers. As of June, 2020, DOT has not provided an update regarding the status of its efforts to implement this recommendation. DOT indicated the agency would provide a response in the coming months, citing delays with workloads due to COVID-19. Once DOT provides a response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Office of the Secretary should develop performance measures for DOT's efforts to educate airline passengers. (Recommendation 6)

Agency: Department of Transportation
Status: Open

Comments: DOT concurred with this recommendation and said it would take steps to develop appropriate performance measures for DOT's efforts to educate airline passengers. As of June, 2020, DOT has not provided an update regarding the status of its efforts to implement this recommendation. DOT indicated the agency would provide a response in the coming months, citing delays with workloads due to COVID-19. Once DOT provides a response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: Once VA's new software for managing authorizations has been fully implemented, the Undersecretary for Health should monitor data on secondary authorization requests approval decision time frames to ensure VA medical facilities are in adherence with VA policy, assess the reasons for nonadherence with the policy, and take corrective actions as necessary. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Veterans Affairs
Status: Open

Comments: VA agreed with our recommendation and stated that it has already taken steps to improve compliance with secondary authorization request approval timeframes.by identifying challenges, agreeing on improvement actions, and providing training. According to VA, its new Health Share Referral Manager system, which VA expects will be fully implemented across all medical facilities by December 2019, will automate secondary authorization request reporting and tracking. According to VA, it will utilize this new system to ensure compliance with secondary authorization request approval time frames.

Recommendation: The Undersecretary for Health should collect data and monitor compliance with the Choice Program contractual requirements pertaining to customer service for community providers, and take corrective actions as necessary. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Veterans Affairs
Status: Open

Comments: VA agreed with our recommendation and stated that it currently does not have the ability to monitor and assess the performance of customer service operations under the Choice Program contracts. VA has included additional requirements for customer service in the Veterans Community Care Network request for proposals and plans to monitor compliance with these requirements under the Veterans Community Care Program. VA expects to implement this recommendation by December 2019.

Recommendation: The Postmaster General should identify and adopt a set of internal control standards that can be used as the basis for operational internal-control activities, such as those for scanning competitive products. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: United States Postal Service
Status: Open

Comments: USPS has completed a cost study to adopt an operational internal control framework. USPS has targeted December 31, 2020, for completion and implementation of this new internal control framework.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should direct the Chief of Appeals, in coordination with the IRS Human Capital Office, to conduct a skills gap analysis specific to Appeals mission needs and develop a strategy for mitigating any identified gaps. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: IRS agreed with this recommendation. As of April 2020, the Office of Appeals stated that it is working with the IRS Human Capital Office to design a questionnaire for all Appeals managers to identify the technical and organizational skills necessary to meet organizational short and long-term needs for the Appeals Officer position. This information will be used to conduct a skills gap analysis on the current Appeals workforce and to enhance the selection/hiring process to ensure future hires possess necessary skills. IRS plans to complete these actions by October 2020, and Appeals stated that time frame for this corrective action may be affected by budgetary and resource constraints. GAO will continue to monitor IRS's implementation of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should evaluate the existing monitoring for collection due process appeal requests and address deficiencies in collection staff meeting the requirement for timely transfer to the Office of Appeals. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: IRS agreed with this recommendation. In July 2019, IRS evaluated the existing monitoring for collection due process appeal requests to identify any impediments to collection staff timely transferring these requests to the Office of Appeals and provided the studies and related recommendations to GAO. The affected IRS collection units have developed action plans to address deficiencies in case transfer time. These plans include modifying inventory software to alert both staff and managers on the number of days collection due process requests have been under review. IRS also plans to update relevant IRM documentation in early 2020 to ensure that receipt dates of collection due process appeal requests are recorded for all cases and that there is appropriate notation of reasons why certain cases exceed established timeframes for transfer to the Office of Appeals. To fully implement this recommendation, IRS will need to provide GAO copies of the updated IRM as well as evidence of other corrective actions outlined in its evaluations of its monitoring procedures for collection due process appeal requests. GAO will continue to monitor the implementation of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should establish timeframes and monitoring procedures for timely transfer of taxpayer appeals requests by examination compliance units to the Office of Appeals. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: IRS agreed with this recommendation. All four IRS business operating divisions have a corrective action plan and established and documented time frames for timely appeal transfer as of February 2020. While three business operating divisions have reporting procedures planned for monitoring timely appeal transfer, one division has not provided a plan for monitoring its timeliness in transferring cases to the Office of Appeals. To fully implement this recommendation, IRS needs to assess whether the planned monitoring actions will result in timely transfer of examination appeals. As of February 2020, data tracking the time from taxpayer request for appeal to when it is received by the Office of Appeals indicated that the actual transfer times are longer than the established time frames. Delays in transferring such requests can result in increased interest costs for taxpayers because interest continues to accumulate on the tax liability during the appeal process. Further, taxpayers unsure of their appeal status may call or write to IRS, tying up other IRS staff to respond to inquiries about appeals delayed in transfer. GAO will continue to monitor IRS's implementation of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should direct the Chief of Appeals to regularly report and share with each compliance unit the data on the time elapsed between when a taxpayer requests an appeal to when it is received in the Office of Appeals. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: IRS agreed with this recommendation. In February 2019, IRS stated that the Chief of Appeals will share with each compliance unit data on the time elapsed between when a taxpayer requests an appeal to when it is received in the Office of Appeals. Appeals will also conduct an assessment with IRS compliance units of the time elapsed between when a taxpayer requests an appeal to when it is received in the Office of Appeals and implement improvements based on that assessment. As of February 2020, Appeals demonstrated that it provided to compliance units initial example data that tracks the time from taxpayer request for appeal to when it is received by the Office of Appeals. As of April 2020, it continues to refine the format of these reports. Appeals said it plans to do an assessment of the data with compliance units and will provide an example of this analysis when it is complete. IRS plans to complete these actions by October 2020, and GAO will continue to monitor IRS's implementation of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should provide more transparency to taxpayers on historical average total appeal resolution times. This could include publishing average total resolution times by workstream on an Office of Appeals web page as well as including total expected times in the Appeals welcome letter. (Recommendation 5)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: IRS agreed with this recommendation. In February 2019, IRS stated that the Chief of Appeals will review appeal resolution times and participate in IRS-wide efforts to improve transparency of resolution timeframes. As of June 2019, the Office of Appeals explained that IRS was beginning to simplify its website, including the Appeals website, with a focus on making it more customer friendly. IRS plans to complete these actions by June 2020, and GAO will continue to monitor IRS's implementation of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Treasury, consistent with its responsibilities under GPRAMA and Executive Orders for customer service, should ensure that the Commissioner of Internal Revenue takes action to make Appeals customer service standards and performance results more transparent to the public. This could include publishing customer service standards and related performance measure results on the Office of Appeals web page on IRS.gov. (Recommendation 6)

Agency: Department of the Treasury
Status: Open

Comments: Treasury agreed with this recommendation and plans to monitor IRS implementation. In February 2019, IRS stated that it will publish customer service standards and related performance measure results on the Office of Appeals web page on IRS.gov. As of April 2020, the Office of Appeals stated it plans to use information from its redesigned customer satisfaction survey to address this recommendation and is determining how to include the performance information on its website. IRS plans to complete these actions by June 2020, and GAO will continue to monitor IRS's implementation of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Treasury, consistent with its responsibilities under GPRAMA and Executive Orders for customer service, should ensure that the Commissioner of Internal Revenue takes action to develop a mechanism to solicit and consider public input and customer feedback on a regular basis on current and proposed IRS appeal policies and procedures. This could include leveraging existing IRS advisory bodies or establishing an Office of Appeals advisory body representing the taxpaying public, the tax practitioner community, and businesses to solicit customer perspectives. (Recommendation 7)

Agency: Department of the Treasury
Status: Open

Comments: Treasury agreed with this recommendation and will monitor IRS implementation. In February 2019, IRS stated that it will leverage existing IRS advisory bodies to solicit customer perspectives. In January 2020, the Office of Appeals reported that it had begun to meet with the IRS Advisory Committee (IRSAC) to solicit customer perspectives, with its first interactions beginning in November 2019. The Office of Appeals stated that, in addition to this action, its leadership continues to meet with other external bodies to capture public input and customer feedback on an ad hoc basis. As of April 2020, the Office of Appeals stated it plans to participate in IRSAC's public meetings. Since the Office of Appeals has only begun leveraging IRSAC to solicit customer perspectives in November 2019 in a working session, GAO will continue to monitor the implementation of this recommendation to ensure sustained interaction with IRSAC through working sessions, as well as public meetings.

Recommendation: The Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should direct the agency to develop a long-term facility plan that explicitly links to SSA's strategic goals for service delivery, and includes a strategy for consolidating or downsizing field offices in light of increasing use of and geographic variation in remote service delivery.

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: In February 2020, SSA said its Space Acquisition Review Board (SARB) continues to meet periodically and focuses on efficiently using the agency's resources to reduce its real estate footprint and proactively addressing organizational and operational changes. In addition, SSA said its goals, results, and future plans of its real estate strategy are documented in its annual Real Property Efficiency Plan. GAO reviewed SSA's Real Property Efficiency Plan for 2019-2023 (dated September 2018). This plan states that SSA is using two model field offices to test how emerging technologies and service delivery methods could result in reductions to field office space agency-wide. However, it does not include specific plans for adjusting its overall physical footprint in light of expanding remote service delivery. To close this recommendation as implemented, SSA will need to demonstrate that it has developed a long-term facility plan--possibly building on its model field office pilot--that links to its strategic goals for service delivery and includes a plan for adjusting its field offices in light of increasing use of and geographic variation in remote service delivery.

Recommendation: The Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should direct the agency to reassess and, if needed, revise its field office space standards to ensure they provide sufficient flexibility to accommodate both unexpected growth in the demand for services and new service delivery technologies.

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: In February 2020, SSA said it published its consolidated and revised Space Allocation Standards and Space Computation Worksheets in June 2019. It said the revised standards include standardized offices, work stations, and employee personal storage space. To close this recommendation as implemented, GAO will need to see evidence that the revised space allocation standards allow more flexibility for growth in demand and new service delivery methods, or at least that SSA considered incorporating such flexibility.

Recommendation: The Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should direct the agency to develop a cost-effective approach to identifying the most common issues with online benefit claims that require staff follow-up with applicants, and use this information to inform improvements to the online claims process.

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: In February 2020, SSA said it has identified the most common reasons for technician follow-up on the iClaims system, and based on these reasons has developed a list of potential future enhancements to iClaim. SSA said it prioritized the enhancements based on which would provide the most relief, but is still determining if enhancements can be made. To close this recommendation as implemented, GAO will need to see evidence that SSA has in fact implemented changes to the iClaim system based on the data it collected on reasons for technician follow-up.

Recommendation: The Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should direct the agency for its alternative customer services approaches, including desktop icons and video services in third-party sites, to develop performance goals and collect performance data related to these goals.

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: In February 2020, SSA said it has developed performance goals for its SSA Express Icons: 15,000 new visitors annually and 50 new partner sites annually. It also said it continues to work on a dashboard for behavioral based management information data collection for the Icon project. This effort will allow the agency to collect better data regarding customer usage. For GAO to close this recommendation as implemented, SSA will need to demonstrate that it has implemented performance measures for its full range of alternative service delivery methods and is collecting related performance information.

Recommendation: To help address Education's strategic goal of providing superior customer service to borrowers, and to strengthen oversight of the Direct Loan program, the Secretary of Education should develop a minimum standard that specifies core call center operating hours to provide borrowers, including those on the West Coast, with improved access to servicers.

Agency: Department of Education
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Education agreed with this recommendation and said it planned to establish core hours in the requirements for servicers to help borrowers access live customer service representatives. In May 2018, an Education official told us that the department is redesigning its loan servicing system, and one of the goals of this effort is to ensure a consistent experience for all borrowers. The official said all borrowers will have access to the same call center number and other customer service functions, but the specifics have not yet been decided. As Education completes its loan servicing redesign, it should ensure that borrowers have improved access to customer service representatives to aid them in managing their loans. In February 2020, Education officials said implementation of this recommendation was still in progress. The agency estimates a completion date of October 30, 2021, when the new system is expected to be fully operational.

Recommendation: To help address Education's strategic goal of providing superior customer service to borrowers, and to strengthen oversight of the Direct Loan program, the Secretary of Education should ensure the new unified borrower complaint tracking system includes comprehensive and comparable information on the nature and status of borrower complaints made to both Education and servicers, to allow Education to track trends and better manage the program to effectively meet borrower needs.

Agency: Department of Education
Status: Open

Comments: In May 2018, the Department of Education reported that as part of its redesigned loan servicing system, it plans to develop a single platform that maintains a record of all customer service interactions, including any complaints that borrowers submit. While the details have yet to be determined, the goal is to create a unified process consistent with the intent of this recommendation, according to Education. Education must ensure that it collects comprehensive and comparable information on borrower complaints in order to ensure the program meets borrower needs. In February 2020, Education officials said implementation of this recommendation was still in progress. The agency estimates completion in October 2021, when the new system is expected to be fully operational.

Recommendation: To help address Education's strategic goal of providing superior customer service to borrowers, and to strengthen oversight of the Direct Loan program, the Secretary of Education should evaluate and make needed adjustments to Direct Loan servicer performance metrics and compensation to improve assessment, including using baseline data, and alignment with Federal Student Aid's strategic goals aimed at superior customer service and program integrity, and to ensure that the assignment of new loans to servicers takes program compliance into account.

Agency: Department of Education
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Education agreed with this recommendation and stated that it would evaluate existing and alternative performance metrics and compensation strategies as part of its process for procuring a new loan servicing solution. In February 2020, an Education official told us that Education's new loan servicing system would eventually address this recommendation. However, the official said the metrics that will be used to evaluate loan servicers have not yet been determined. Unless Education better aligns its servicer performance metrics, borrowers will continue to be at risk of experiencing errors and poor customer service. In October 2019, Education officials said implementation of this recommendation was still in progress, pending completion in October 2021, when the new system is expected to be fully operational.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Veterans Affairs should direct the Under Secretary for Health to monitor the full amount of time newly enrolled veterans wait to be seen by primary care providers, starting with the date veterans request they be contacted to schedule appointments. This could be accomplished, for example, by building on the data collection efforts currently being implemented under the "Welcome to VA" program.

Agency: Department of Veterans Affairs
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: In March 2016, GAO recommended that VA monitor the full amount of time newly enrolled veterans wait to be seen by primary care providers, starting with the date veterans request they be contacted to schedule appointments. VA concurred with this recommendation, and in June 2017, reported to GAO that it had taken actions to address it. Specifically, VA indicated that it revised an internal report to help identify and document all newly enrolled veterans and monitor their appointment request status. The report is intended to enable VHA and its medical centers to oversee the enrollment and appointment process by tracking the following timeframes: (1) application to enrollment, (2) enrollment to initial contact, (3) initial contact to primary care appointment, and (4) total time from application to primary care appointment. However, VA also indicated in its response that it did not have data that captures application dates for all newly enrolled veterans. As such, the report could not be used to consistently monitor the full amount of time these veterans wait to be seen by primary care providers. In January 2018, VA reported developing and implementing technical enhancements to its electronic systems that will enable it to capture the application date for all newly enrolled veterans. In April 2018 and December 2018, VA reported making continued efforts to implement technical enhancements to its electronic system. In its February 2020 update, VA identified several steps that the agency was completing to fully implement the revised internal report and noted that following a successful piloting of the report, the agency would implement it system-wide. VA reported that it expects to fully address this recommendation by October 2020.

Recommendation: To improve performance management of taxpayer services, the Secretary of the Treasury should update the Department's performance plan to include overage rates for handling taxpayer correspondence as a part of Treasury's performance goals.

Agency: Department of the Treasury
Status: Open

Comments: In May 2017, Treasury officials told us that they planned to include correspondence data as part of Treasury's fiscal year 2018 annual performance plan and fiscal year 2016 annual performance report. While the fiscal year 2016 performance report included data on correspondence overage rates, as of August 2019, Treasury has not included correspondence overage as part of its performance goals. We continue to believe this recommendation is valid.

Recommendation: To help ensure that the Navy has adequate oversight of on-order excess inventory termination decisions and necessary performance measures consistent with DOD guidance, the Secretary of the Navy should direct the Commander, Naval Supply Systems Command, to incorporate the graduated management reviews and the ability to track and review the reasons for not canceling and modifying on-order excess items into its automated termination module that is under development.

Agency: Department of Defense: Department of the Navy
Status: Open

Comments: DOD concurred with our recommendation. As of August 2019, Naval Supply Systems Command has taken some steps, such as defining the requirement and piloting some aspects of the effort, to incorporate graduated management reviews and the ability to track and review the reason for not canceling and modifying on-order excess items into its automated termination module. However, this capability is not implemented into the automated termination module, according to Naval Supply Systems Command officials. Navy Supply Systems Command provided information on its plans to implement this capability in fiscal year 2020 and we will continue to monitor their efforts to address this implementation.

Recommendation: To improve the reliability and reporting of investment performance information and management of selected major investments, the Commissioner of the IRS should direct the Chief Technology Officer to modify reporting of the Affordable Care Act Administration testing status to senior management to include a comprehensive report on all impacted systems--including an explanation for why impacted systems were not tested at a particular level--and ensure this reporting is aligned with the manner in which testing is being performed.

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: IRS disagreed with this recommendation at the time we made it stating that it followed a rigorous risk-based process for planning the tests of ACA-impacted systems, including the types and levels of testing, and that it had comprehensive reporting for the filing season 2015 release, which included ACA impacted systems. However, as noted in our report, our review of ACA Testing Review Checkpoint reports and filing season reports, which officials stated were used to provide comprehensive reports to senior managers, did not identify the status of testing for all systems impacted by ACA Releases 5.0 and 6.0. In September 2017, IRS finished developing ACA and the investment transitioned to the operations and maintenance phase. We followed up with IRS to determine the extent to which it might be implementing the recommendation in light of this transition. In response, in June and December 2019 , IRS provided some documentation, including systems acceptance test plans and end-of-test results reports for ACA releases completed since September 2017. We reviewed the documentation provided and determined that it did not provide a status of testing for all systems impacted as we recommended. As of September 2020, we were following up with IRS to determine if the agency has other documentation provided to senior managers that addresses our recommendation.

Recommendation: To ensure that IRS can adequately enforce certain tax provisions, Congress may wish to consider providing IRS with MEA to use tax return information from previous years to ensure that taxpayers do not improperly claim credits or deductions in excess of lifetime limits where applicable.

Agency: Congress
Status: Open

Comments: As of March 2020, Congress has expanded IRS's math error authority in certain circumstances, but not as broadly as GAO suggested in February 2010. Section 208 of division Q of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (Public Law 114-113 enacted in December 2015) gave IRS the authority to use math error authority if (1) a taxpayer claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, or the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) during the period in which a taxpayer is not permitted to claim such credit as a consequence of either having made a prior fraudulent or reckless claim; or (2) a taxpayer omitted information required to be reported because the taxpayer made prior improper claims of the Child Tax Credit or the AOTC. While expanding math error authority is consistent with what GAO suggested in February 2010, GAO maintains that a broader authorization of math error authority with appropriate controls would enable IRS to correct obvious noncompliance, would be less intrusive and burdensome to taxpayers than audits, and would potentially help taxpayers who underclaim tax benefits to which they are entitled. If Congress decides to extend broader math error authority to IRS, controls may be needed to ensure that this authority is used properly such as requiring IRS to report on its use of math error authority. The Administration also requested that Congress expand IRS's math error authority as part of the Service's Congressional Budget Justification and Annual Performance Report and Plan for fiscal year 2021. Specifically, the Administration requested authority to correct a taxpayer's return in the following circumstances: 1) the information provided by the taxpayer does not match the information contained in government databases or Form W-2, or from other third party databases as the Secretary determines by regulation; 2) the taxpayer has exceeded the lifetime limit for claiming a deduction or credit; or 3) the taxpayer failed to include with his or her return certain documentation that is required to be included on or attached to the return. As of March 2020, the Congress had not provided IRS with such authority.

Recommendation: To gain efficiencies and improve taxpayer service, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should direct the appropriate officials, based on the quality of service provided by comparable organizations and on what matters most to the customer, to determine a customer service telephone standard, and the resources required to achieve this standard based on input from Congress and other stakeholders.

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: As of August 2019, IRS finalized a customer service strategy identifying an optimal telephone level of service. According to the strategy, IRS has a process to compare major metrics with other agencies and private industry, and conducted two studies to look at industry practices. In response to our recommendation, IRS compared its telephone data with similar telephone environments, and determined that a telephone level of service between 70 and 80 percent provides an optimal balance for servicing customer service telephones and paper correspondence requests. However, IRS faced two significant challenges in managing the 2019 filing season: (1) implementing major tax law changes from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), and (2) a lapse in appropriations that left IRS unfunded during five weeks leading up to the opening of the 2019 filing season. As a result of issues stemming from these challenges, IRS revised its 2019 filing season telephone service goals from 80 percent to 65 percent during the filing season, and from 75 percent to 63 percent for all of fiscal year 2019. By not maintaining the identified optimal level of service standard, IRS is missing opportunities to illustrate gaps between actual and desired levels of service that may have resulted from issues linked to TCJA implementation and the lapse in appropriations. IRS did outline steps it is taking to achieve the optimal range of 70-80 percent telephone level of service outlined in its customer service strategy. Specifically, IRS said that it is working to upgrade equipment for all IRS business units that provide telephone services to taxpayers. It also cited examples of these upgrades, such as implementing a customer callback system that allows callers to keep their place in queue without remaining on the phone. While IRS said it has allocated funding to begin the development and installation of the customer callback feature, it did not provide an estimate of the resources required to upgrade the equipment and otherwise achieve the optimum range of telephone level of service. By not providing sufficient information to Congress on resources needed to achieve an optimal level of service, IRS is missing opportunities to justify the resources it believes are needed to improve taxpayer service.