National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins delivers her first report to Congress; identifies COVID-19 challenges, CARES Act, and Taxpayer First Act implementation as priority issues for taxpayers
An official website of the United States Government
IR-2020-132, June 29, 2020
WASHINGTON ― National Taxpayer Advocate Erin M. Collins today released her first report to Congress, identifying taxpayer challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, and the IRS’s implementation of the Taxpayer First Act as priority issues the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) plans to focus on in the coming year. The report also assesses the 2020 filing season, identifies other TAS areas of focus, and includes the IRS’s responses to administrative recommendations proposed in the National Taxpayer Advocate’s 2019 annual report.
“On March 30, 2020, I had the honor and privilege of being sworn in as the third National Taxpayer Advocate,” Collins wrote. “Starting in the midst of a pandemic and witnessing IRS offices closing one by one was not the way I envisioned my role when I accepted the position, . . . but there also has been a silver lining in this experience: As I have participated in conference calls with members of my leadership team, TAS employees, and the IRS’s COVID-19 response team, I have been extraordinarily impressed by their commitment and focus on the health and safety of all employees during this pandemic, while still doing as much as possible to assist taxpayers.”
In her preface to the report, Collins expressed appreciation to Nina Olson, who served as the National Taxpayer Advocate from 2001-2019, and Val Oveson, who served as the first National Taxpayer Advocate from 1998-2000. “Over the past 20 years, TAS has successfully assisted more than 4.5 million taxpayers by helping them resolve their tax problems and protecting their rights, and it has made hundreds of administrative recommendations adopted by the IRS and some 45 legislative recommendations enacted by Congress,” Collins wrote.
The report praises the IRS for acting quickly to postpone over 300 filing, payment, and other time-sensitive deadlines, provide broad relief from compliance actions under its “People First Initiative,” and disburse some 160 million Economic Impact Payments (EIPs) authorized by the CARES Act, enacted on March 27, 2020.
However, the report says that despite the IRS’s best efforts, there have been notable adverse taxpayer impacts, including:
The report says the IRS generally did a commendable job implementing the CARES Act, but taxpayer challenges remain, including:
The Taxpayer First Act (TFA), enacted one year ago, constitutes the most far-reaching revisions to tax administration since the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998. The TFA included some 23 provisions recommended by the National Taxpayer Advocate. A centerpiece of the TFA is a requirement that the IRS develop four strategic plans: (i) a comprehensive taxpayer service strategy; (ii) a plan to redesign the IRS’s organizational structure; (iii) a comprehensive employee training strategy that includes training on taxpayer rights and the role of TAS; and (iv) a multi-year plan to meet IRS information technology needs. The TFA required the IRS to submit its comprehensive taxpayer service strategy to Congress by July 1, 2020. Because of disruptions caused by COVID-19, the IRS has been delayed in developing these plans, but it expects to deliver its taxpayer service strategy to Congress by the end of the year.
The report details some steps the IRS has taken to receive input from taxpayers, practitioners, and TAS, and identifies over two dozen TFA provisions that the IRS has implemented. It expresses concern that the IRS has not properly implemented a provision directing it to establish a single point of contact for identity theft victims and that it may not properly implement a provision directing it to exclude taxpayers with adjusted gross incomes at or below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level from assignment to private debt collection agencies by December 31, 2020.
Collins said, “I have been impressed by many ideas the IRS is considering, and I look forward to working with the leadership as it refines its taxpayer service strategy in the coming months.”
The National Taxpayer Advocate’s mid-year report typically includes an assessment of the filing season that measures performance against the results of prior filing seasons. Because the IRS closed most of its operations in March and postponed many filing and payment deadlines from April 15 to July 15, this filing season cannot fairly be compared with prior years. The disruption caused by COVID-19 and the postponed due date has had – and continues to have – an enormous impact on the 2020 filing season, reflected in the number of returns received, the volume of correspondence received from taxpayers, and the reduction in toll-free telephone service. Among the impacts were:
Because of the IRS’s limitations and the postponed filing deadline, an assessment of the filing season is necessarily incomplete. The report says TAS may provide a more thorough analysis later.
Beyond COVID-19, the CARES Act, and TFA implementation, TAS continues to advocate on a broad range of issues. The report describes ten issues TAS plans to focus on during the upcoming fiscal year. These include working with the IRS to provide taxpayers with limited English proficiency meaningful access to tax products and services; improving the clarity and content of IRS notices and correspondence; improving service to and communication with taxpayers in rural and other communities that lack high-speed internet access; and working with the IRS to refine its screening filters so fewer legitimate returns are flagged as potentially fraudulent and cause refund delays for affected taxpayers.
The National Taxpayer Advocate is required by statute to submit a year-end report to Congress that makes administrative recommendations to resolve taxpayer problems. Section 7803(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code authorizes the National Taxpayer Advocate to submit administrative recommendations to the Commissioner and requires the IRS to respond within three months. Under this authority, the National Taxpayer Advocate annually transmits to the Commissioner all administrative recommendations proposed in her year-end report for response.
The Acting National Taxpayer Advocate made 78 administrative recommendations in the 2019 year-end report and then submitted them to the Commissioner for response. Of those, 59 were made in the “Most Serious Problems” section of the report. The IRS has implemented or agreed to implement 41 (or 69 percent).
The report made 19 administrative recommendations in other sections of the report. The IRS has taken the position that it is not required to respond directly to them and has provided only general narrative responses. The National Taxpayer Advocate believes the IRS is required to provide direct responses. “The intent of the statute is clear,” the report says. “If the National Taxpayer Advocate makes an administrative recommendation to mitigate a taxpayer problem – regardless of whether or where it has appeared in a report – the IRS should evaluate it and respond in writing so that TAS, Congress, and the taxpaying public know whether the IRS plans to implement the recommendation and, if not, why not. General narrative discussions that do not address recommendations directly fail to satisfy this objective.”
The IRS responses are published in full in an appendix to the report.
The National Taxpayer Advocate is required by statute to submit two annual reports to the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance. The statute requires these reports to be submitted directly to the Committees without any prior review or comment from the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, the Secretary of the Treasury, the IRS Oversight Board, any other officer or employee of the Department of the Treasury or the Office of Management and Budget. The first report must identify the objectives of the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate for the fiscal year beginning in that calendar year. The second report must discuss the ten most serious problems encountered by taxpayers, identify the ten tax issues most frequently litigated in the courts, and make administrative and legislative recommendations to resolve taxpayer problems.
The National Taxpayer Advocate blogs about key issues in tax administration. You can subscribe to receive the National Taxpayer Advocate’s blogs.
The Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) is an independent organization within the IRS that helps taxpayers and protects taxpayer rights. Your local advocate’s number is in your local directory and at Taxpayer Advocate Service – Contact Us. You can also call TAS toll-free at 877-777-4778. TAS can help if you need assistance in resolving an IRS problem, if your problem is causing financial difficulty, or if you believe an IRS system or procedure isn’t working as it should. Our service is free. For more information about TAS and your rights under the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, go to https://taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/. You can get updates on tax topics at facebook.com/YourVoiceAtIRS, twitter.com/YourVoiceatIRS, and youtube.com/TASNTA.
An official website of the United States Government
IR-2020-132, June 29, 2020
WASHINGTON ― National Taxpayer Advocate Erin M. Collins today released her first report to Congress, identifying taxpayer challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, and the IRS’s implementation of the Taxpayer First Act as priority issues the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) plans to focus on in the coming year. The report also assesses the 2020 filing season, identifies other TAS areas of focus, and includes the IRS’s responses to administrative recommendations proposed in the National Taxpayer Advocate’s 2019 annual report.
“On March 30, 2020, I had the honor and privilege of being sworn in as the third National Taxpayer Advocate,” Collins wrote. “Starting in the midst of a pandemic and witnessing IRS offices closing one by one was not the way I envisioned my role when I accepted the position, . . . but there also has been a silver lining in this experience: As I have participated in conference calls with members of my leadership team, TAS employees, and the IRS’s COVID-19 response team, I have been extraordinarily impressed by their commitment and focus on the health and safety of all employees during this pandemic, while still doing as much as possible to assist taxpayers.”
In her preface to the report, Collins expressed appreciation to Nina Olson, who served as the National Taxpayer Advocate from 2001-2019, and Val Oveson, who served as the first National Taxpayer Advocate from 1998-2000. “Over the past 20 years, TAS has successfully assisted more than 4.5 million taxpayers by helping them resolve their tax problems and protecting their rights, and it has made hundreds of administrative recommendations adopted by the IRS and some 45 legislative recommendations enacted by Congress,” Collins wrote.
The report praises the IRS for acting quickly to postpone over 300 filing, payment, and other time-sensitive deadlines, provide broad relief from compliance actions under its “People First Initiative,” and disburse some 160 million Economic Impact Payments (EIPs) authorized by the CARES Act, enacted on March 27, 2020.
However, the report says that despite the IRS’s best efforts, there have been notable adverse taxpayer impacts, including:
The report says the IRS generally did a commendable job implementing the CARES Act, but taxpayer challenges remain, including:
The Taxpayer First Act (TFA), enacted one year ago, constitutes the most far-reaching revisions to tax administration since the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998. The TFA included some 23 provisions recommended by the National Taxpayer Advocate. A centerpiece of the TFA is a requirement that the IRS develop four strategic plans: (i) a comprehensive taxpayer service strategy; (ii) a plan to redesign the IRS’s organizational structure; (iii) a comprehensive employee training strategy that includes training on taxpayer rights and the role of TAS; and (iv) a multi-year plan to meet IRS information technology needs. The TFA required the IRS to submit its comprehensive taxpayer service strategy to Congress by July 1, 2020. Because of disruptions caused by COVID-19, the IRS has been delayed in developing these plans, but it expects to deliver its taxpayer service strategy to Congress by the end of the year.
The report details some steps the IRS has taken to receive input from taxpayers, practitioners, and TAS, and identifies over two dozen TFA provisions that the IRS has implemented. It expresses concern that the IRS has not properly implemented a provision directing it to establish a single point of contact for identity theft victims and that it may not properly implement a provision directing it to exclude taxpayers with adjusted gross incomes at or below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level from assignment to private debt collection agencies by December 31, 2020.
Collins said, “I have been impressed by many ideas the IRS is considering, and I look forward to working with the leadership as it refines its taxpayer service strategy in the coming months.”
The National Taxpayer Advocate’s mid-year report typically includes an assessment of the filing season that measures performance against the results of prior filing seasons. Because the IRS closed most of its operations in March and postponed many filing and payment deadlines from April 15 to July 15, this filing season cannot fairly be compared with prior years. The disruption caused by COVID-19 and the postponed due date has had – and continues to have – an enormous impact on the 2020 filing season, reflected in the number of returns received, the volume of correspondence received from taxpayers, and the reduction in toll-free telephone service. Among the impacts were:
Because of the IRS’s limitations and the postponed filing deadline, an assessment of the filing season is necessarily incomplete. The report says TAS may provide a more thorough analysis later.
Beyond COVID-19, the CARES Act, and TFA implementation, TAS continues to advocate on a broad range of issues. The report describes ten issues TAS plans to focus on during the upcoming fiscal year. These include working with the IRS to provide taxpayers with limited English proficiency meaningful access to tax products and services; improving the clarity and content of IRS notices and correspondence; improving service to and communication with taxpayers in rural and other communities that lack high-speed internet access; and working with the IRS to refine its screening filters so fewer legitimate returns are flagged as potentially fraudulent and cause refund delays for affected taxpayers.
The National Taxpayer Advocate is required by statute to submit a year-end report to Congress that makes administrative recommendations to resolve taxpayer problems. Section 7803(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code authorizes the National Taxpayer Advocate to submit administrative recommendations to the Commissioner and requires the IRS to respond within three months. Under this authority, the National Taxpayer Advocate annually transmits to the Commissioner all administrative recommendations proposed in her year-end report for response.
The Acting National Taxpayer Advocate made 78 administrative recommendations in the 2019 year-end report and then submitted them to the Commissioner for response. Of those, 59 were made in the “Most Serious Problems” section of the report. The IRS has implemented or agreed to implement 41 (or 69 percent).
The report made 19 administrative recommendations in other sections of the report. The IRS has taken the position that it is not required to respond directly to them and has provided only general narrative responses. The National Taxpayer Advocate believes the IRS is required to provide direct responses. “The intent of the statute is clear,” the report says. “If the National Taxpayer Advocate makes an administrative recommendation to mitigate a taxpayer problem – regardless of whether or where it has appeared in a report – the IRS should evaluate it and respond in writing so that TAS, Congress, and the taxpaying public know whether the IRS plans to implement the recommendation and, if not, why not. General narrative discussions that do not address recommendations directly fail to satisfy this objective.”
The IRS responses are published in full in an appendix to the report.
The National Taxpayer Advocate is required by statute to submit two annual reports to the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance. The statute requires these reports to be submitted directly to the Committees without any prior review or comment from the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, the Secretary of the Treasury, the IRS Oversight Board, any other officer or employee of the Department of the Treasury or the Office of Management and Budget. The first report must identify the objectives of the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate for the fiscal year beginning in that calendar year. The second report must discuss the ten most serious problems encountered by taxpayers, identify the ten tax issues most frequently litigated in the courts, and make administrative and legislative recommendations to resolve taxpayer problems.
The National Taxpayer Advocate blogs about key issues in tax administration. You can subscribe to receive the National Taxpayer Advocate’s blogs.
The Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) is an independent organization within the IRS that helps taxpayers and protects taxpayer rights. Your local advocate’s number is in your local directory and at Taxpayer Advocate Service – Contact Us. You can also call TAS toll-free at 877-777-4778. TAS can help if you need assistance in resolving an IRS problem, if your problem is causing financial difficulty, or if you believe an IRS system or procedure isn’t working as it should. Our service is free. For more information about TAS and your rights under the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, go to https://taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/. You can get updates on tax topics at facebook.com/YourVoiceAtIRS, twitter.com/YourVoiceatIRS, and youtube.com/TASNTA.
Research & References of National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins delivers her first report to Congress; identifies COVID-19 challenges, CARES Act, and Taxpayer First Act implementation as priority issues for taxpayers|A&C Accounting And Tax Services
Source
0 Comments