Ultimate Objectives for the IRS: Balancing Revenue and Service

Although it is widely understood that the Internal Revenue Service has the mission to collect federal taxes, there is some debate as to whether that is its only mission. If there is a crisis in tax administration, it may be one of identity. There is a consensus that the IRS must collect revenues, but there is little agreement on how and sometimes even whether it should pursue its many other functions. Even members of Congress have waxed and waned between demanding that almost all effort be put into pursuing noncompliance as opposed to emphasizing service and taxpayer rights.