As part of its brand-new Digital Intake initiative, the IRS has scanned more than 120,000 paper forms 940 since the beginning of the year.

Since the beginning of the year, the IRS has scanned more than 120,000 paper forms 940, a 20-fold increase compared to all of 2022, the agency said on March 8. As part of the multiform, multisolution Digital Intake initiative, Forms 1040 and 941 will soon undergo scanning, along with other forms included in the scanning effort.

The IRS’s chief information officer, Nancy Sieger, said in a statement that technology is the backbone of tax administration and that over the past year, significant work has been done to help people get the help they need, reduce paper use, and enhance the agency’s technology infrastructure. This is yet another step in the right direction for the IRS’s technological future, which includes improving taxpayer service.

While by far most of the government forms are presently recorded electronically, many structures are as yet documented by paper. Bringing about a tedious course of physically dealing with and translating these profits, the IRS said. Scanning and electronically processing paper returns will reduce processing time for taxpayers who file using this method.

According to a press release issued last week, the IRS been scanning tax returns with various technologies for 35 years. But they recently took a step forward by leveraging cutting-edge technologies through a revolutionary procurement approach to test their effectiveness. Due to these capabilities, the IRS can digitalize more paper for later processing and storage. Which improves data management outcomes and increases efficiency.

The IRS collaborates with Lockbox Financial Agents, the Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service, industry partners to expand their efforts.

Current filtering drives in progress at the IRS cover:

• Lockbox’s digital intake system: Lockbox Financial Agents are banks that specialize in payment processing. But up until now, they have not taken the extra steps to scan and process tax forms. These Lockbox banks receive payments and associated tax forms from millions of taxpayers each year. The Lockbox project works to electronically file paper returns that are scan on-site.

• Digital intake with partners in the industry: This procedure, like the work with the Lockbox Financial Agents, e-files paper tax returns with machine-readable information. These endeavours with industry accomplices, through agreements, given by the IRS. Permit the IRS to handle shapes that are additionally got straight by the IRS.

Harrison Smith, co-director of the IRS Enterprise Digitalization and Case Management Office, stated, “We are making significant progress in this effort. We look to expand scanning efforts dramatically in the months ahead and working toward a fully digital future. We are laying the groundwork for a future that will allow us to assist businesses and taxpayers.”

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