The inverse tangent function can be bounded by different inequalities, for example by Shafer's inequality. In this publication, we propose a new sharp double inequality, consisting of a lower and an upper bound, for the inverse tangent function. In particular, we sharpen Shafer's inequality and calculate the best corresponding constants. The maximum relative errors of the obtained bounds are approximately smaller than 0.27% and 0.23% for the lower and upper bound, respectively. Furthermore, we determine an upper bound on the relative errors of the proposed bounds in order to describe their tightness analytically. Moreover, some important properties of the obtained bounds are discussed in order to describe their behavior and achieved accuracy.