IRS mission statement.

On August 25, 1998, Tax Executives Institute submitted the following comments to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue in response to his request for comments on a proposed revision of the Internal Revenue Service's mission statement (as required under the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998). The comments took the form of a letter from TEI President Lester D. Ezrati of Hewlett-Packard Company. For additional information on this topic, refer to the news story on page 330.

In response to your request for comments on a restatement of the Internal Revenue Service's mission, the Board of Directors of Tax Executives Institute recently considered the two draft statements that were released by the Office of Public Liaison and Small Business Affairs. As you know, TEI's 5,000 members represent the largest 2,800 companies in North America, and nearly all of them have in the past few years engaged in exercises similar to the IRS's current one -- defining their companies' core businesses, visions, and missions. Indeed, the TEI Board's discussion of the IRS mission statement was exceptionally stimulating and productive, and I believe it was positively affected by the experience so many Board members have had in contributing to their own companies' mission statements. We trust that our comments prove helpful.

Commissioner Rossotti, TEI members agree that the IRS's mission statement must declare the agency's core business, must be concise and easily understood, and must reflect the agency's direction and focus on taxpayers. We also believe that, in setting its mission, the IRS must focus on two distinct audiences: the organization's own workforce and the taxpaying public. Too internal or external a focus may well prove counterproductive. Moreover, although effectively serving specific taxpayers is key to the IRS's success, TEI sincerely believes the mission statement must reflect that the agency's "constituency" is not merely the taxpayers with whom IRS personnel come into contact with on a day-to-day basis, but the public at large.

With these comments as background, the Institute is pleased to recommend that the Internal Revenue Service adopt the following mission statement:

The Internal Revenue

Service is a service

organization whose fair

and efficient operation is

essential to fund the

federal government. The

IRS exists to help people

understand and meet

their tax responsibilities

and to administer the

tax laws in a courteous

and consistent manner

...