Mission
To provide top quality service by helping taxpayers understand and comply with applicable tax laws and to protect the public interest by applying the tax law with integrity and fairness to all.

Strategic Priorities
The Wage and Investment Division supports the IRS' strategic goals and objectives through initiatives that:

• Address the increasing demand for timely, accurate service, and reducing taxpayer burden
• Address the increasing demand for electronic products and services
• Improve enforcement programs to reduce the risks of non-compliance
• Balance compliance and outreach activities to enhance delivery of EITC initiatives
• Leverage new technology and reengineer business processes to maximize delivery of new business services
• Ensure human capital strategies contribute to quality and productivity
• Continue to evaluate the tax administration support needs of individual taxpayers as part of its overall management of their portfolio of services and delivery channels
• Increase preventive and corrective actions to reduce vulnerability to identity theft
• Balance compliance and outreach activities to ensure cost effective delivery of the health coverage tax credit

Headquarters
401 W. Peachtree Street, NW
Atlanta, GA 30308

Management Team
Richard E. Byrd, Jr., Commissioner
Pamela G. Watson, Deputy Commissioner

Taxpayer Profile

• Most pay taxes through withholdings
• More than half prepare their own returns
• Most interact with the IRS once a year
• Most receive refunds

W&I Headquarters provides overall strategic and operational direction and manages internal support processes. The Headquarters Operations and functional operations work together to manage the full cycle of interaction with W&I customers. They have the authority, responsibility, and expertise to oversee current operations and improve business practices and strategies.

The headquarters of W&I provides only those services that cannot be provided practically at lower levels of the organization. This philosophy reflects the IRS organizational direction of moving accountability closer to the front line.

Critical operations of W&I headquarters include:

• Strategy and Finance
• Equal Employment Opportunity and Diversity
• Communications and Liaison
• Business Modernization Executive

Key W&I offices include:

Customer, Assistance, Relationships and Education (CARE) provides customers with the information, support and assistance they need to understand and fulfill their tax obligations. CARE is focused on educating and assisting taxpayers before they file their returns, assisting in filing returns and offering face-to-face assistance after filing through a three-pronged strategic approach:

• Media and Publications — This office focuses on meeting customer needs through the development of plain language notices, forms and publications, which facilitate tax administration and ease of compliance by taxpayers, and to supply media production services to customers.
• Stakeholder Partnerships Education and Communication (SPEC) — This office provides assistance to W&I customers by building and maintaining partnerships with key stakeholder groups. This unit also is responsible for developing educational materials for use in pre-filing, filing and post-filing customer interactions and developing products for use in marketing and working with local and national media to ensure that our customers are aware of tax law changes and IRS services.
• Field Assistance — This office owns and manages the Taxpayer Assistance Centers located throughout the country. Field Assistance provides comprehensive face-to-face assistance to taxpayers as well as assistance through telephone and written correspondence.

Customer Account Services (CAS) is responsible for taxpayer relationships through filing, including processing submissions and payments; providing taxpayers with information on the status of their returns and resolving the majority of problems and inconsistencies. CAS provides trouble-free filing, faster refunds, and efficient resolution of inquiries and issues. It is composed of the following offices:

• Submission Processing processes tax returns, related documents and payments at seven processing centers — Andover, Atlanta, Austin, Cincinnati, Fresno, Kansas City and Ogden.
• Accounts Management responds to taxpayer inquiries for advice on a variety of tax law and procedural questions, account inquiries and adjustments, and responses to notices that are received via the telephone, correspondence and e-mail at 25 Account Management sites.
• Joint Operations Center (JOC) provides service, support and technology for Operating Divisions and Functional Organizations to achieve their desired service levels for all telephone, correspondence and electronic media inquiries within agreed resource and staffing parameters.

Compliance assists taxpayers in the determination and fulfillment of their tax obligations by providing accurate and consistent application of the tax law and by using a risk-based approach to exam and collection. It is supported by the following functions:

• Filing & Payment Compliance carries out strategies pertaining to Collection programs in coordination with the filing process, education, outreach, and assistance to address the needs of taxpayers.
• Reporting Compliance carries out strategies pertaining to Examination programs while balancing the objectives of each and ensures the appropriate integrated mechanisms are in place to implement and deliver programs.

Electronic Tax Administration and Refundable Credits oversees all aspects of the growing exchange of electronic information between the IRS and individual taxpayers, businesses and practitioners. The three divisions established are:

• Development Services Division (DSD) supports the Service's Business Operating Divisions (BODs) in the achievement of their electronic initiatives. By working closely with the BODs and MITS, DSD develops and delivers electronic tax administration products and services.
• Internet Development Services Division (IDS) plays a key role in portraying a “one IRS” presence across the operating divisions’ suite of Web-based capabilities. Their mission includes managing and coordinating the development of a comprehensive suite of Web-based informational and transactional services that meet the business needs of external and internal customers and encourages increased use of the IRS portals.
• Strategic Services Division (SSD) provides expertise and guidance to internal and external customers to enable the development of e-government strategies and policies to achieve viable electronic tax administration solutions. This includes stewardship for agency-wide electronic tax strategy; serving as the subject matter expert for emerging business products and solutions; and providing a single point of contact for National Accounts.
• Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) provides oversight and guidance to the functions that administer some portion of the EITC through an approach that encourages maximum participation among eligible taxpayers while minimizing error and fraud. The goal is to strengthen the coordination and links among these functions, so that interactions are seamless.

Key Contacts and Taxpayer Assistance

Taxpayers may order current and prior year forms, instructions and publications by calling 1-800-TAX-FORM (1-800-829-3676). Taxpayers may ask tax questions by calling the toll-free customer service line at 1-800-829-1040. TTY/TDD users may call 1-800-829-4059 to ask tax questions or to order forms and publications.

IRS Taxpayer Assistance Centers are a source for personal face-to-face tax help and solutions to tax problems, every business day.