Just before closing up shop and heading out on the campaign trail, Congress passed legislation requiring federal agencies, including the IRS, to use “plain writing” in documents issued to the public, including those issued electronically (in other words, materials posted on agency websites). Alarm bells went off here at Fairmark.com, as this development threatens to put us out of business. We were relieved at what we learned in digging a bit deeper.
Not covered
The law doesn’t cover everything. First and foremost, it doesn’t cover the laws Congress inflicts on all of us, including the agencies that are now supposed to explain those laws in plain language.
Significantly, the law also doesn’t cover regulations. Congress recognized that the legal precision required for these documents can sometimes be incompatible with the dictates of plain language, so the new law specifically exempts regulations.
Not enforceable
Apparently someone was concerned that you might sue the IRS for failing to meet the plain language requirement, so the law specifically says you can’t. Agencies are required to take action on the requirement and report back to Congress on what they’ve achieved.
Plain language
Most interesting, to me at least, is the question of implementation. The Office of Management and Budget will develop guidelines, but in the meantime agencies may rely on guidelines developed by something called the Plain Language Action and Information Network. This group maintains a website called PlainLanguage.gov. The goals are admirable, but the website offers some indication of the difficulty of sticking with language that’s truly plain. Reading their own description of the site, we learn that its recent redesign was “facilitated” by someone identified as a “writing and information architecture instructor.” Seeing this, I effected a rotation of my ocular organs in an expression of derision and incredulity. I believe they meant to say that someone who teaches plain language writing helped out.
Similarly ludicrous lapses in plain language no doubt appear here on Fairmark.com, and sharp-eyed readers are invited to post examples as comments to this article.
My opinion
The IRS puts a great deal of effort into creating tries hard to create understandable language. With inevitable lapses here and there, they succeed about as well as can be expected given the complexity of the laws they administer. Congress, not the IRS, is the real source of the problem in people not being able to understand taxes, and there’s rich irony in seeing Congress pass a law requiring clear writing.
