Prototypes

Design prototypes and concept explorations for IRS Taxpayer Services & Online Accounts. Styled to the IRS Online Design Guidelines (ODG) / U.S. Web Design System.

Issue #16

Tax Pro Account — secure two-way messaging

Secure messaging between tax professionals and IRS caseworkers, scoped by CAF number: pick a CAF from the selector to load its inbox — a sortable, paginated message table — or hit an unlinked CAF and get help accordions for linking it. Message threads carry case reference, tax matter, and assigned office, with replies and attachments; taxpayer detail pages get a Messages tab with no-messages and service-unavailable states.

Issue #15

IRS OAuth apps & API platform

One authorization surface for every client beyond IRS.gov: a developer console to register an OAuth app with credentials, PKCE token flow, and plain-language scopes across Individual Online Account (first), IVES income verification, and coming Business/Tax Pro/MeF/TIN-matching APIs; the taxpayer consent screen an app triggers with access/refresh token semantics; and a Connected apps view in Online Account to review scopes and revoke access instantly.

Issues #19 · #25 · MVP

Third-party payments — pay on behalf of a taxpayer

The third-party payments MVP: a guest, one-page flow (form on the left, sticky payment summary on the right) for the two collection scenarios — same-day payments only, with an immediate received-confirmation email. Choose who's paying (individual, business, or financial institution — organizations self-certify with no personal SSN), then respond to a notice of levy (the 668-A/668-W response files electronically with the payment) or pay toward a federal tax lien, matched by its lien serial number alone since a lien payer may have no TIN. No tax-period selection, no balances shown, any amount accepted; posting forecast and a receipt with a status timeline.

Issue #13

irs.gov homepage — omnibar front door

The public irs.gov landing page rebuilt around one focused command-palette omnibar, styled to the IRS front door with a utility bar and primary nav. Type a task, a form number, or a plain-language question and go straight there — clicks open real inline destination views (refund tracker, Direct Pay, payment plan, transcript) with working forms and breadcrumbs. When nothing matches, the omnibar devolves into an Ask IRS assistant that answers and links you to the right page.

Issues #11, #32, #34 · Variant 4

Pay from your bank account — one-page individual payment

Unbranded individual bank-account payment: taxpayer type up front, the full form and payment-reason catalog (estimated tax is the only type for the current year), taxpayer verification trimmed to name + TIN, and a banking-days-only payment calendar. Sign in mid-payment without losing your entries, choose saved details, then review and authorize.

Issue #11 · Variant 3

DirectPay reskin — start from your notice

Lead with "I got a notice or letter": type the number (CP14, CP501, CP2000) and it pre-fills the whole Tax Information cluster — reason, form, and tax period — off the notice, with a live receipt-style summary panel confirming what you're about to pay. A "no notice" fallback keeps manual entry for everyone else.

Issue #11 · Variant 2

DirectPay reskin — guided, one question at a time

The Tax Information cluster broken into plain-language questions ("What are you paying for?" → confirm the form → "Which tax year?") answered with big tap-friendly option cards. A running "In plain English" summary sentence builds as you go, so nobody has to decode dropdown combinations.

Issue #11 · Variant 1

DirectPay reskin — faithful five-step flow

DirectPay's cramped "Tax Information" screen rebuilt to the ODG: the same Reason for payment → Apply payment to → Tax period cascade, but with a proper step sidebar, plain-language labels and hints, each choice decoded as you pick it, and a live summary of your tax information. Downstream steps sketched for flow context.

Issue #10 · Variant 3

Mobile app — refund status & account

Opens on a Where's My Refund lookup anyone can use without an account, with Sign in right below so returning taxpayers skip re-entering their SSN and refund amount. Once signed in, a single view shows balance due, refund status, messages, paperless preferences, and sign out.

Issue #10 · Variant 2

Mobile app — priority home feed

A triage-first phone app: the home screen is a prioritized "needs attention" feed where the balance due and the CP14 notice surface as action cards, followed by horizontal category shortcuts and modular section cards for records, notices, and profile.

Issue #10 · Variant 1

Mobile app — bottom tab bar

A native phone-app shell with a persistent 5-tab bar: Home (account summary & balance-due hero), Payments, Records, Notices, and Profile. The classic, familiar mobile pattern applied to the taxpayer's core surfaces.

Online Account

Omni bar (in-app concept)

A unified action/search "omni bar" in the Online Account masthead — command-palette style with an account switcher, persona scenarios, and bilingual (EN/ES) content.

Unified Tax Account

One login, pick your role

Sign in once, then act as an individual, a business you run or belong to, or a tax pro — with the omni bar integrated everywhere and re-scoping itself to whichever account you switch into.

Refunds & Returns

Track My Return — status tracker

Track the processing of an original or amended return in one integrated application — the latest update up top, every earlier stage listed most-recent-first, like bank activity.

Help & Support

Taxpayer Assistant (AI agent)

A live chat AI agent that uses tools — it looks up your account, fills out forms (8822, 2848), and faxes them to the right unit, narrating each tool call.

Issue #14

Email notifications & digital notices

End-to-end journey for business notice alerts: opt in from the profile screen, get the email (login link only — no deep link), pick the business, and read the notice.

Business Tax Account

94x Online Signature PIN

Self-service wizard for a responsible official to request the 10-digit 94x PIN (Forms 940/941/943/944/945) and e-file straight to MeF.

Personal hobby project, for fun. Not an official government website and not affiliated with, endorsed by, or representative of any agency. All data is fictional mock data — no real personal or taxpayer information. These concepts do not reflect any agency's roadmap, decisions, or opinions.