A tax info redesign by the users, for the users
The IRS is aiming to crowdsource a revamp of its online tax information with a focus on user-centered design.
IRS.gov has long been one of the most-used federal websites, but the online information presentation that the IRS offers taxpayers is in need of an overhaul, so the agency is crowdsourcing improvements.
"[M]uch of this information reads like a receipt and can be incomprehensible to those who are not financial professionals," the IRS acknowledged in a March 22 announcement of its upcoming Tax Design Challenge.
Launching April 17 with an event at the D.C. office of startup incubator 1776, the challenge calls on the public to develop innovative ways to wrangle more than 200 data fields into a more coherent taxpayer learning experience.
The top prize, underwritten by the co-sponsoring Mortgage Bankers Association: $10,000.
Other prizes include thousands of dollars for the best "taxpayer usefulness" and "financial capability."
This is the first time the IRS has tried crowdsourcing such a solution.
Contestants will have access to the aid of government mentors from inside the IRS and other agencies, including several former Presidential Innovation Fellows.
Contestants don't need to actually code working solutions, the IRS announcement noted. They just need to lay out a clear path for bettering the IRS' impersonal method of feeding information to taxpayers.
Submissions will be accepted in image formats. The deadline to enter is May 10.