The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has released An Improved Project Management Process Is Needed to Measure the Impact of Research Efforts on Tax Administration:

The IRS does not have a systemic process to measure research outcomes against intended results. Currently, the IRS primarily assesses the impact of its research by measuring customer satisfaction. However, customer satisfaction is not the most relevant and effective measure since it does not directly show whether IRS research projects contributed to the research programs’ mission of providing information to support data-driven decisions by IRS management. As a result, IRS management cannot fully assess the impact of the research projects, and the associated $93.2 million spent, on tax administration.

In addition, IRS project management processes were not adequate to ensure research project files and databases contain information to enable IRS management to more effectively monitor whether research is completed within established time/budget standards and assess its impact on improving taxpayer service, enhancing enforcement of the tax laws, and modernizing the IRS.