THE AMERICAN CUSTOMER SATISFACTION INDEX RELEASES ANNUAL REPORT ON FEDERAL SERVICES: Satisfaction With The IRS And Other Government Agencies Is On The Rise

摘要

Believe it or not, filing taxes has become a more favorable experience for Americans than flying on commercial airlines, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) released recently. In its annual report on how satisfied Americans are with federal government agencies, the ACSI shows that the score for the Internal Revenue Service has improved 11 percent from last year and 22 percent since 1999. While still relatively low, the IRS score of 62 (out of a possible 100) is still higher than the airlines' recent score of 61 (as measured by the ACSI in the first quarter of 2001 - well before Sept. 11 attacks and the subsequent impact on air travel). "These would be noteworthy improvements for any organization in any industry, but they are even more notable in view of the 'business' of the IRS," says Claes Fornell, professor of business and director of the University of Michigan Business School's National Quality Research Center, which compiles and analyzes the ACSI data. "It is difficult to imagine a society in which people would be more satisfied with tax collection than with competing companies from which purchases are neither mandatory nor without alternatives of choice."