The IRS yesterday submitted to Congress and released to the public Taxpayer Assistance Blueprint.  From IR-2007-84:

The Blueprint is the joint response of the IRS, the IRS Oversight Board and the National Taxpayer Advocate to a congressional mandate for the development of a five-year plan for the delivery of taxpayer service. The Blueprint represents the most extensive IRS research ever conducted into the needs, preferences and behaviors of taxpayers and partners who assist them in complying with the tax laws, such as volunteer and paid tax return preparers. This research formed the foundation for the strategic plan for taxpayer service outlined in the Blueprint. The plan includes a variety of specific recommendations for improving IRS services for taxpayers and partners. Improving taxpayer service is an important part of a comprehensive strategy to reduce the “tax gap” –– the difference between the amount of tax that taxpayers pay and the amount that they owe –– by helping taxpayers understand and meet their tax obligations.

To address congressional and stakeholder interests, the Blueprint was designed to:

• Establish a taxpayer and partner baseline of needs, preferences and behaviors;
• Create a transparent process for making service-related resource and operational decisions;
• Develop a framework to improve service delivery;
• Define both short-term performance and long-term business goals and metrics to assess service value.