I don't think you're giving the American taxpayer enough credit. I think most of us understand exactly how much money is coming out of our checks, we just can't do anything about it. I think that if given the tools to interact with the government, people would use them, especially if it means that they could get their refunds in a few days instead of a week or two, without being forced to go to H&R Block or Jackson Hewitt in order to get their tax refund. I think those of us who are on the bottom of the middle class, or the top of the lower class could use it to set aside money if we see that we're going to have to pay additional at the end of the year if we could forecast a shortfall.

But I think the more important aspect of it, is that you can interact with the IRS in a way that is recorded so they can't claim that they didn't receive your communication, or you can show how you're being shuffled around. As an expert in ERP systems, it's obvious the problems the IRS have are directly resultant of their failure to properly integrate technology and keep it up to date. Let's face it, a high school computer class could put together a better website than what is available now.

The problem with making the argument for change is that it is useless to complain without really quantifiable results to support the claim. We say the IRS is inefficient, but we have no idea of how many steps it takes on the backend, to go through the entire procedure. A system like this can give the agency some real Business intelligence tools that is the beginning of the journey to real reforms. One thing I would have to insist upon though, is that the database be maintained by another agency to ensure the integrity of the results. It's not an all inclusive solution by any means, but I think it could be a good first step to positive reform.