ABSTRACT
Coupled with new demands on public administration generally were challenges to the legitimacy of tax systems. In some countries this began with reports of citizen or business outrage at abuses of power by tax administrations. In the United States, citizens charged that personnel of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) were 'rude, abusive, or unhelpful', and also that 'the IRS retaliates against those who criticise it' (Report of the National Commission on Restructuring the Internal Revenue Service, 1997, pp. 1-2). There were complaints, moreover, that the IRS was 'reactive' rather than 'proactive', that customer satisfaction was low, and that the public believed the quality of IRS service was 'deteriorating' (1997, p. 11 ). As a result of these attacks, the National Commission on Restructuring the Internal Revenue Service was created and charged with recommending 'changes to the IRS that will help restore the public's faith in the American tax system' (1997, p. v).
