IRS Digitization Gains Momentum as Paperless Processing Program Hits First Goal

The Internal Revenue Service announced on Thursday that its Paperless Processing Initiative’s first goal has been achieved, with taxpayers now able to send digital correspondence and responses to the IRS three months ahead of schedule.

The tool, launched in February 2023 as a key component of the IRS digitization program, opened the agency’s capability to respond to all notices within eight months. The agency estimated that more than 94 percent of individual taxpayers will no longer need to send postal mail to the IRS,  Nextgov/FCW reported.

Speaking on the 2024 tax filing season’s goals at the IRS headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the digitization’s “impact will be significant and far-reaching” in terms of saved time and effort for taxpayers. The taxation process will also be faster, with reduced errors and lesser storage costs for the IRS, she added.

During the 2025 tax filing season, the IRS is lining up more electronically available tax forms and plans to digitize under the Paperless Processing Initiative up to 1 billion historical tax documents. 

The agency will also pilot-test a direct electronic tax filing tool without using commercial software in the 2025 tax season.