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GAO Urges IRS to Repair Broken Kiosks at Taxpayer Assistance Centers

 

In a new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the agency suggested that the IRS conduct a study to find out if a new kiosk program that utilizes updated technology or deploys laptops to Tax Assistance Centers (TACs), would provide effective and efficient self-service options for taxpayers. The IRS agreed with the suggestion and plans to implement corrective actions.

A previous evaluation listed concerns that the Facilitated Self-Assistance Kiosks at some TACs were broken. Due to these worries, GAO started a separate evaluation to zero in on the kiosks, which are computer terminals established to provide taxpayers the tools to help themselves to the tax agency's services. Available services included Free File and fillable tax forms and Where’s My Refund, among others. The GAO started this evaluation to determine the effectiveness and efficiency of kiosks located in TACs.


In the GAO's previous evaluation, TAC managers signaled that the contractor had a slow response time to service requests. Kiosks were left inoperable for long periods of time. The lack of proper oversight of the contract resulted in the IRS paying approximately $500,000 annually to a contractor that did not timely perform the necessary services for the kiosks to remain operational. After the GAO told IRS management about its concerns, management signaled that it intends to  was to work with the existing contractor to make the kiosks operational by Dec. 31, 2024. 

In Jan. 2025, that GAO visited eight TACs that were not operable kiosks and found out that the machines still did not work, the report said. The GAO found out that the IRS did not exercise the contract’s 2025 option year, and the agency was discontinuing the kiosk program. IRS management did not express their intentions to cancel the contract until after GAO expressed its reservations regarding that the number of inoperable kiosks.

The GAO then stated that, although they support the IRS’s decision to discontinue the current kiosk program, GAO thinks that providing taxpayers a self-service option can be advantageous as the IRS undergoes staff reduction and restructuring.

As part of its initiatives to transform tax administration, an area of focus for the IRS is the accessibility and availability of taxpayer services. Kiosks offer more service options by giving taxpayer more alternatives for self-service assistance.