IRS Commissioner, CTO and Direct File Dominate the FedScoop 50 Awards 2024
Now in its 13th year, the FedScoop 50 honors the most impactful leaders in the federal government who strive each day to leverage technology to transform government.
A key theme for this year’s award was enhancing the digital experience for high-impact government services, which is laying the blueprint for how the federal government can best modernize and serve its citizens in today’s digital age.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is one such agency laying this foundation for best serving citizens. This is why two IRS leaders, and one transformation program are dominating the FedScoop 50 Awards for 2024. Makpar is proud to shine a light on these efforts.
Golden Gov: Federal Executive of the Year – IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel
During his second year as IRS commissioner, Danny Werfel clearly offered a tech-forward vision for the agency. This included the acceleration of modernization priorities and the embrace of artificial intelligence to improve customer service and enhance enforcement efforts.
According to FedScoop, the crown jewel of the past year for Werfel was the agency’s successful Direct File pilot, a free electronic filing program that earned permanent status and is set for expansion across the country next tax season. As we highlighted this past summer, the IRS aims to broaden Direct File’s availability across the nation, including covering more tax situations and inviting all states to partner with Direct File next year.
Federal Leadership – IRS Chief Technology Officer Kaschit Pandya
In addition to IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel, Kaschit Pandya, CTO of the IRS, also made the FedScoop 50 2024 list under the “Federal Leadership” category.
Pandya was noted for his leadership in cloud-driven innovation and experience with managing mission-critical information systems, which is especially valuable to the IRS at a time when the tax agency is continuing its modernization push and launching new products like the Direct File free electronic filing program.
The Innovation of the Year: IRS Direct File Program
Of course, the crown jewel of the IRS, its Direct File program, was named the Innovation of the Year in the FedScoop 50 2024.
Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act paired with a team of technical IRS experts committed to improving customer experiences, the agency brought to life a herculean effort – free electronic tax filing for citizens.
During the 2024 tax season, 140,803 taxpayers filed their taxes using Direct File. The effort also saved filersan estimated $5.6 million in tax preparation fees for federal returns.
IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said the agency’s “North Star will be improving the experience of tax filing itself and helping taxpayers meet their obligations as easily and quickly as possible.”
Congratulations to these IRS leaders for their efforts to transform the citizen experience! Contact us here for more information on how we can help support your agency’s CX journey.