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These days, it seems like everyone is on social media. And that includes the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which has apparently determined that becoming more social media-friendly might be a good way to get more people to pay their taxes. As a result, over the past five years, the IRS has been steadily ramping up its presence on social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, X (formerly known as Twitter), Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Choice of social media platforms
Curiously enough, one of the big-name social media platforms missing from the list is TikTok. No doubt, this is due to all the controversy surrounding TikTok these days, including its alleged links to the Chinese Communist Party. In addition, the IRS endured a firestorm of controversy earlier this year, when it was found to be in non-compliance with the U.S. government ban on employee usage of TIkTok. Thus, there’s nary a word about TikTok these days on its official social media page.
And what about Instagram? While it’s easy to see why Facebook or X might be useful for sending out new updates on tax changes, new filing deadlines, or new tax guidelines, it’s harder to make the case for a social media platform like Instagram. This is the social platform of choice for young influencers, and most people expect a certain type of content to appear on Instagram these days.
And, indeed, the Instagram page for the IRS looks very different from what you might expect from an account in the year 2024. For one, there are absolutely no people in any of the images. Instead, there’s an image of a pair of cowboy boots, a pink Stanley Cup with the words “IRS” on it, and a bunch of Christmas presents with the letters “I,” “R,” and “S” on them. That being said, at least there aren’t a bunch of black-and-white tax forms being glamorized on social media.
Reasons to follow the IRS
You’re not alone if you’re having second thoughts about following the IRS on social media. If you can follow them, does that mean they can follow you??? That being said, there are several reasons why you might think about following the IRS on Facebook, X, or LinkedIn. For one, you’re guaranteed to get the latest news, updates, and announcements on taxes. That could really come in handy during tax season.
Moreover, the IRS deserves credit for going all-in on the multilingual front. Many of their social media resources are now available in Spanish and Chinese, which presumably are two of the most popular languages for non-English-speaking tax filers. This could make it much easier for recent immigrants to the United States, who might otherwise dread the prospect of trying to make sense of their taxes. Even for native English speakers, there’s nothing that strikes more fear into the heart than the idea of interpreting IRS tax rules.
Security and online identity
And, finally, the IRS deserves credit for its emphasis on security, privacy, and protecting one’s identity during the tax filing process. As the IRS points out, “your privacy and security are paramount.” With that in mind, the IRS advises never sharing your social security number (or other highly confidential data) on social media sites. And, as the IRS points out, it is unable to respond to specific tax problems on social media – so you need to be able to generalize your case for a wider audience. This makes sense, given that you probably don’t want a random stranger to know anything about your tax position.
Final takeaways
Overall, the IRS has widened its demographic approach to include a wide mix of taxpayers (such as young users and non-English-speaking users). It has experimented with a wide mix of platforms and different types of content (including how-to videos on YouTube). And it has settled on uniform messaging for all of these platforms: if you want the latest on tax change, tax scam alerts, and new tax guidelines, then you absolutely need to be following the IRS on social media, especially around tax time.
Thus, after reviewing the social media page of the IRS, there are no obvious red flags that might force a closer audit. Let’s hope the same can be said for your taxes when you file with the IRS this year!
