An IRS App?

Yes, there is an app for iPhone and Android from the IRS. Is it worth downloading? Not in my humble opinion.

What do you get with this app?

1. Check your refund status
2. Sign up for e-mail tax tips
3. Sign up to follow then on Twitter
4. Call them if you are on a phone but not if you're in an iPod Touch or iPad

2 and 3 become worthless once you're signed up (if you're not already). If you're not on a phone, pushing the call button does nothing. No message that you can't make a call. No phone number to call from a phone- nothing. And check your refund? That's a one time trick. Once the refund is in hand, there is no use for that option until the next year.

This is a novelty app. It only does a little and once it done that there is no need for the app.

Now IRS, if you really want to do a useful app, I have a few suggestions.

• How about the Tax Maps with downloads going to my Dropbox so I can view forms or pubs at home.
• Or a basic refund calculator so when I get stopped at the grocery store I can answer their questions.
• A W-4 calculator for the same reason as the refund calculator.
• Phone numbers with the option to make a call if the app is on the phone. So I can give them to people who stop me at the store.
• Enrolled Agent Directory.
• E-File provider Directory.
• Once it's up and running, the directory of Licensed Preparers.

The new App is just a novelty with limited usefulness. The calculators, phone numbers, and directory are items the general public might be interested in and use more than once. Make them easier to get to than going though the web site on a phone or iPod and you might have an app that is a winner.