Acknowledging that the nation's tax collection agency is in need of some reform, IRS Commissioner Charles Rossotti Friday told the Senate Finance Committee--which had been holding hearings on the agency's problems all week--that the panel's findings need to be addressed.
"I think the hearings of this past week demonstrate that--further demonstrate that--fundamental change at the IRS is needed," Rossotti said in his opening remarks. "I also think that every American who heard the testimony would be just as disturbed as I was at that testimony, and we simply must change the conditions that lead to the situations described by your witnesses. We have to help and provide better service to taxpayers," he added.
Rossotti said he has launched a number of internal investigations and reforms since taking over the agency last fall, and welcomed suggestions by Finance Chairman William Roth, R-Del., "that the GAO be given the responsibility to investigate" the allegations of wrongdoing.
"I promise you that when we get the results of those investigations, we will act accordingly and take disciplinary action where the allegations are substantiated," he said.
Rossotti also said a modernization plan he has proposed "will require a dramatic break from past practices in almost every facet of the agency, [in] the internal structure, the technology, management roles and responsibilities, and recruiting of senior executives."
But he cautioned that "change of this magnitude will take time, and there is no magic formula or easy solution."
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