As the public prepares to file their taxes this year, they are confronting more than deadlines and paperwork. No two tax seasons are the same, and many people have experienced the headaches caused by past IRS leadership shifting the rules midstream.
Under previous administrations, the agency has increasingly relied on evolving guidance, aggressive reinterpretations, and uneven enforcement, leaving taxpayers to navigate an unpredictable environment. Instead of a stable rulebook, taxpayers have faced moving goalposts and uncertainty. Consequently, tax compliance remains today a moving target rather than a clear standard.
At a time when many families and small businesses are already facing economic pressure, institutional instability from the nation’s tax authority compounds financial strain and discourages investment. Long-term planning becomes more difficult, trust in the agency erodes, and a cycle of inconsistency weakens the broader system.
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The Alliance for IRS Accountability was founded to address these challenges. One year ago, we launched AIA with a clear mission: restore fairness, transparency, and accountability to the IRS. As we celebrate our one-year anniversary, we are proud of the progress we have made toward advancing a fairer, more transparent, and accountable IRS. But even after a year of driving meaningful progress, much work remains to establish lasting reforms.
Rebuilding trust in the tax system is essential. Years of inconsistent enforcement, administrative overreach, and politicized controversy have left the public frustrated with an agency tasked with administering the tax code impartially. This has steadily eroded confidence that the IRS works for the public rather than against it. Confidence in the IRS depends on clarity, consistency, and accountability, and these principles too often feel absent in practice. Because the United States relies on voluntary compliance, maintaining trust is essential. As voters head into a critical election cycle, their concerns about economic stability, government accountability, and political targeting deserve serious attention.
AIA’s 2026 legislative priorities are designed to restore clarity, ensure taxpayers come before bureaucracy at every step of the compliance process, and help ease the tax pressures that everyday people face. At a time when affordability and cost-of-living pressures remain top voter issues, inconsistent enforcement and shifting standards exacerbate those burdens and demand attention.
Regulatory uncertainty is not only frustrating but also a significant economic obstacle. When taxpayers are forced to divert money toward defensive compliance and overreaching audits, instead of investment or basic needs, scarce capital is stretched even thinner.
These pressures are further compounded by the current burden-of-proof framework, which is our most critical reform priority. In many disputes, taxpayers bear the burden of proving their innocence against the agency, despite lacking the same resources and institutional advantages. That imbalance, coupled with unpredictable enforcement, pressures many taxpayers to settle rather than challenge the agency. The current framework creates a system that favors the government over the taxpayer before ever reaching the courtroom.
AIA is also advocating a “loser pays” reform that would hold the IRS financially accountable when enforcement actions are found to be unjustified. By introducing meaningful consequences for IRS errors, this reform would help restore balance and promote consistent standards that taxpayers can better navigate. This encourages taxpayers to contest the agency if they were wrongfully accused rather than settle out of fear of mounting legal costs, reducing the chilling effect that uncertainty imposes on economic decision-making.
These commonsense reforms are only part of AIA’s broader effort to create a fair system for all taxpayers. Enforcement uncertainty and moving goal posts are not partisan troubles, they are structural weaknesses that affect every family and small business alike. A fair, predictable, and accountable tax system should be a baseline expectation, not a political aspiration.
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If lawmakers are serious about restoring public trust and strengthening economic stability, reforming the structural flaws that perpetuate IRS uncertainty is a great place to begin. Ending the uncertainty does not mean weakening tax compliance enforcement; it means applying the law consistently, transparently, and with equal accountability. U.S. taxpayers cannot afford continued unpredictability from the agency responsible for enforcing the nation’s tax laws.
Taxpayers must be put before bureaucracy. Those who make good-faith efforts to comply should be met with clarity and cooperation, not confusion and coercion. Predictability reduces compliance costs, restores confidence, and strengthens the system’s integrity.
Chuck Flint is the president and CEO of the Alliance for IRS Accountability.