Improving the way the U.S. Tax Court engages with the public

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2021-06-16 03:00:02

By Andrew Dunkman , Mark Meyer , Jessica Marine , Mike Marcotte , Vicki McFadden

The United States Tax Court is an independent federal court that provides a forum for settling disputes between taxpayers and the Internal Revenue Service. The Court had used a modified COTS product to manage Court operations since the 1980s. Of the 60,000 petitions filed each year, about 60% are filed by people without lawyers, and traditionally had to be done in-person or via mail. After 30 years, the Court shifted the way it manages Court operations — here’s how 18F and the Court worked together to improve the public’s experience.

The Court reached out to 18F to help write a solicitation for a new, open-source case management system that the Court can maintain into the future without stepping into a long-term, sole-source maintenance agreement with a new vendor. The Court ensured research and user needs direct the project by appointing a dedicated Product Owner, establishing clear project sponsorship, and being willing to adopt new tools and techniques to implement the new system.