Paper Work Reduction Act was formulated in 1980 in the USA. It was a federal law meant for reducing the amount of paperwork that was imposed on private entities such as businesses and citizens. It stipulates the procedural requirements for entities to gather information from the citizens. It brought the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs to the office of Management and Budget ( Rosenbloom, 2018). It was given the mandate to oversee the federal agencies’ ways of gathering information from the citizens. It was also to enhance the establishment of information policies. It was then supported by an amendment in 1995. It guaranteed authority over agency orders in the provision of information to the public and the government. The act puts it that federal agencies must be permitted by the Office of Management and Budget to use identical queries in the collection of information from the public. They should prepare an Information Collection Request that gives the rationale of the information and estimates the time and cost for the people in the request. The paperwork burden has increased. The burden was previously at 6.9 billion hours, but today it has grown to 11.6 billion hours. The businesses have been affected profoundly as they have a load of 3.3 hours and undergo a cost of 111 billion dollars. The figures have been provided accurately by the American Action Forum. The act was to enhance that the citizens did not spend a lot of time filling forms on tax, health care, or housing forms. Filling out the tax forms is expected to take thirty-five hours for the citizens for the federal regulators. Despite the various recommendations to reduce the paperwork, it has grown immensely ( Rosenbloom, 2018). Today, there are cases of 9,500 OMB control numbers, where an increase of 9.8% is noted. The IRS forms ask for a lot of information, of which the citizens find to be intrusive. There are numerous supplementary worksheets submitted complicating the filing of taxes. The tax season between January and April of each year witnesses taxpayers in the US prepare financial statements and reports for the preceding years and submission of their tax returns. The tax season is hectic for the people developing the returns and the accountants ( Rosenbloom, 2018). The necessary paperwork in the collection of wages and statements of earnings is done for the assembling of tax returns. Most citizens rely on the tax preparer or the professionals in the accounting sector to ensure their paperwork is filed correctly and to enhance the financial outcomes of their tax returns. However, some individuals do it on their own on the IRS. Some innovations can improve the filing of taxes in the US. It should be time conscious and enhance cost-effectiveness — free online tax preparation systems that are connected with electronic filing. The IRS can provide a system that allows citizens to file their taxes efficiently and submit their returns online at the cost of zero dollars. The IRS can also enable the citizens to fill in returns with an already filled-out return rather than starting each time again facilitating pre-population. Countries that have adopted this system take only fifteen minutes compared to the eight hours and high costs incurred in the US. There should be software and apps that enable citizens to file their taxes. For instance, the IRS2GO app to get free tax-filing options or check your tax returns status. There should be automation of tax filing. It can be enhanced by e-filling, automatic data checks, and automatic reminders. IT and digital technology can lead to a reduction of paperwork and a strengthening of the compliance process. These innovations can lead to the amendment of tax laws. The Rosenbloom, D. H. (2018). Rosenbloom, D. H. (2018). The federal government, which has a mandate as enshrined in the constitution, can implement these recommendations.
References
Rosenbloom, D. H. (2018). Administrative law for public managers . Routledge.
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