Jim Keith is being recognized for his spearheading significant improvements at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) services aimed at enhancing the taxpayer experience through two key initiatives. Firstly, under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), he led the development of the IRS Direct File Pilot, a free tax-filing tool directly with the IRS. This initiative was a collaborative effort involving tax experts, product managers, engineers, designers, and data scientists from both IRS and cross-agency teams like U.S. Digital Service and 18F. The Direct File pilot, initially rolled out in 12 states and later expanded, processed over 60,000 tax returns, offering taxpayers a streamlined and cost-free filing option.

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Secondly, Mr. Keith oversaw enhancements to the "Where’s My Refund" application, a popular self-serve tool on IRS.gov. This upgrade included integrating with legacy IRS systems to provide real-time status updates and error notifications regarding tax returns. During the filing season, this tool typically handles over 300 million visits, and the recent enhancements attracted an additional 75 million visits, enabling taxpayers to access accurate information about their refunds promptly.

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Overall, these initiatives have significantly benefited the public by increasing the accessibility and accuracy of IRS services, facilitating more tax filings for free through Direct File and providing transparent and timely updates via Where’s My Refund.