IRS Appoints Chief Taxpayer Experience Officer

The IRS Tuesday announced the creation of a new chief taxpayer experience officer position as part of its planned multiyear modernization effort.  

Ken Corbin will take on the new role while continuing to serve as the commissioner of the IRS Wage and Investment division—the agency’s largest.

“I’m excited for this opportunity and, with my dedicated Taxpayer Experience Office team, look forward to helping the IRS continue to earn the trust and respect of every American,” Corbin said in a statement. “We want to help taxpayers and we will.”

The chief taxpayer experience officer is the first senior leadership role within the IRS created through the Taxpayer First Act, which passed Congress in 2019. The law calls for numerous, incremental technology and policy improvements at the agency to match the kinds of customer experience customers receive from leading private-sector companies. In addition, the law called for a comprehensive customer service strategy to be submitted to Congress. The IRS delivered a 250-page customer service strategy to Congress in January, which outlined the chief taxpayer experience officer role, as well as billions of dollars worth of investments to shore up customer experience for all Americans.

Specifically, the strategy calls for $550 million over five years to implement specific mandates from the Taxpayer First Act; $1.6 billion over five years to implement taxpayer experience, training and organizational redesign plans and $1.9 billion to modernize “IRS systems, cybersecurity and operations.”

The strategy aims to address longstanding issues Americans have had interacting with the agency, as well as numerous technical issues related to outdated technology systems, some of which are more than six decades old. The chief taxpayer experience officer is charged with executing the strategy and is a direct report to IRS leadership.

“While taxpayer service has always been a priority for the IRS, we can do more,” IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig said in a statement. “ Having Ken Corbin in this new position will provide a different way of ensuring the taxpayer component is factored into all aspects of global IRS operations and business decisions in a way that’s never been done before. Every taxpayer and every taxpayer interaction are important, and Ken will make a significant difference going forward.”