U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen addressed the recent decision by Fitch to downgrade the U.S. credit rating, highlighting the country's strong economic recovery. She also announced customer service improvements and fair enforcement initiatives within the IRS, including the Paperless Processing initiative to become a digital-first agency, all aimed at benefiting the American people, according to an Aug. 2 news release.
"Today, I’m pleased to announce another major milestone for the IRS," Yellen said in the release. "It’s one that we are calling 'Paperless Processing.' And it marks a significant step in our efforts to digitalize IRS operations. Today, we are announcing that – by the next filing season – taxpayers will be able to digitally submit all correspondence, non-tax forms and notice responses to the IRS."
During the 2023 tax filing season, the IRS achieved significant progress, including a drastic transformation of phone customer service, the release reported.
"We advanced our commitment to expand in-person assistance and meet taxpayers in the communities where they live," Yellen added, according to the release. "In total, we served 140,000 more taxpayers in person through the end of this filing season than last year’s. We’ve opened or reopened 35 Taxpayer Assistance Centers since the passage of the law."
The secretary expanded on the innovative transformation that the IRS is experiencing, the release said.
"We’ve made it easier and quicker for Americans to interact with the agency," Yellen said in the release. "In the first quarter of this year, the IRS scanned 80 times more paper returns than in the entire year of 2022. Taxpayers were also able to respond online to 10 of the most common tax notices – including those that alert taxpayers to the fact that they may be eligible for certain tax credits that they have not claimed. By the middle of this month, we plan to expand this functionality to an additional 53 notices that are currently received through the mail."
In response to the downgrade of the nation's credit rating, Yellen highlighted the economy has shown a historic recovery from the pandemic downturn, with more than 13 million new jobs created since January 2021, along with an unemployment rate of 3.6%, the release reported.
"Fitch’s decision is puzzling in light of the economic strength we see in the United States," the secretary said in the release. "I strongly disagree with Fitch’s decision, and I believe it is entirely unwarranted."
