Taxpayer Advocate Group to Americans: Do You Have a Suggestion?

We’re all familiar with the growing trend of companies and organizations determined to engage consumers, build relationships and exchange information in a way that builds a foundation of trust and loyalty. Companies use a variety of methods to accomplish this, such as building profiles on social networking sites, asking consumers to participate in product surveys, and even sponsoring event parties like those at House Party.

But this trend of conversations is mostly limited to the B2C world, right?

That’s not really the case anymore.

Earlier this year the Taxpayer Advocate Service, an independent organization that operates within the IRS and assists taxpayers with resolving issues or problems with them, launched a suggestion box to start a conversation with America about simplifying the tax code and reforming the tax system.

Predictably, Americans had strong opinions on changes they wanted to see, including things like a sliding scale for childcare taxes, elimination of unemployment taxes, swapping out credits and deductions for a flat tax, and instituting a fuel tax – but mostly they just wanted the system to be simpler.

The notion of asking consumers for their opinions via an online suggestion box is hardly revolutionary; thousands of companies and organizations have been doing that for years now. The concept of a government organization asking for suggestions on something as massive as the tax code, however, is something we aren’t always accustomed to seeing.

It might not be revolutionary, but I think it solidifies something social media and marketing experts have been saying for a long time now: social media and the idea of building relationships with consumers in that capacity isn’t going away. It isn’t a fad. It’s a viable medium that can be used for more than marketing a product to a consumer. It can be used to initiate important conversations, to pass along crucial information and to give people a way to be heard.

(At this point, I just can’t not mention President Obama’s first ever “Twitter Town Hall.”)

Now, whether or not the IRS will actually implement any of the opinions it received in its suggestion box – that is an entirely different story.

What do you think about the suggestion box? Does it make you feel like the IRS genuinely wants to give you a voice?