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Florida Tax Review

Abstract

For nearly a century, tax information statements such as Form W-2s and Forms 1099 have dominated the tax administration process, ensuring taxpayer compliance and providing a mechanism for IRS oversight. The technological age of the Internet, however, has fundamentally transformed the availability of information, including critical tax data, to make it more readily accessible. On the basis of this accessibility, this analysis calls for the phase-out of paper tax information statements. Instead, tax data would be available at a secure IRS website that, with a few keystrokes, taxpayers could conveniently use to prepare their tax returns. Adoption of this proposal promises to create tremendous administrative efficiencies and greatly simplify the tax return preparation process.

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