Rebranding advice for the IRS

March 23, 2007

Who is Steve Stoute?
A 36-year-old former music executive who now runs his own marketing agency, Translation Consultation & Brand Imaging.

His approach: Combine a hip-hop philosophy and business practicality so that a brand will be more appealing to a younger, trendier audience.

BusinessWeek takes a look at Stoute in its current issue. According to the magazine, some of Stoute’s major clients include GM, McDonald’s, Procter & Gamble, Hershey, Microsoft and Estée Lauder.

There’s one more … uh … company … that Stoute says, in the bio box accompanying the story, that he’d like to rebrand to help it reach a new generation of consumers:

"The IRS should no longer hide behind the stick and allow fear to dominate its image. There is an opportunity to illustrate to Americans that the IRS is of value to them in ways both societal and personal."

Imagine how high those IRS customer service satisfaction ratings could go with a little crafty brand repositioning.

Perhaps the agency should create a MySpace page. It would definitely be interesting to see just who wants to be the tax collector’s friend.

Thanks to TaxProf for the tip.

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Tax Season 2026 Continues!

We made it. Tax Day 2025 is finally over. For most of us. When the filing season started on Jan. 26, millions who were expecting refunds filed immediately. Most of us got our returns to the Internal Revenue Service by April 15. But plenty of taxpayers also got extensions. They are looking at an Oct. 15 filing deadline.

Those procrastinating filers aren’t a problem. In fact, the IRS appreciates taxpayers who take time to fill out their 1040 forms correctly. It also is grateful that tax submissions are spread out a bit, especially now that the IRS is a leaner agency. Processing returns is easier when they arrive throughout the year instead of in massive bunches.

But enough about Uncle Sam’s tax collection issues. The focus now is on all y’all who filed for extensions, giving you another six months to complete your return. Since your new mid-October due date will be here before you know it, let’s get started now on meeting it.

The ol’ blog is here to help you finish up your extended Form 1040. You can start with January’s tax tips page, which has links to the rest of the year’s tips by-month collections. You also can peruse various tax categories for more tailored advice by clicking on the More Tax Posts drop-down menu at the top of this (and every) page.

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