National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson has delivered a report to Congress that discusses the central role taxpayer service plays in facilitating voluntary compliance with our tax laws and cautions that excessive focus on enforcement at the expense of taxpayer service could have the effect of both reducing voluntary compliance and alienating taxpayers.

The Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) is an independent organization within the IRS which ensures tax problems that have not been resolved through normal channels are handled promptly and fairly. Qualified taxpayers receive personalized service from an Advocate. Because the Taxpayer Advocate Service is part of the IRS, Advocates know the tax system and how to navigate it. In the case of problems that affect a significant number of taxpayers, TAS has the authority to work within the IRS and with Congress to change the rules or procedures.

The Advocate's report, which is required by law, urges the IRS to focus more broadly on steps to increase voluntary compliance. "Today, the IRS's explicit and primary focus is on increasing its enforcement activity. While this goal is laudable, it is very narrow," Olson writes. "The IRS is far more than an enforcement agency - it must serve all taxpayers. Thus, the IRS should specifically state that its primary organizational goal is to increase voluntary compliance."

The report identifies four areas for particular emphasis in FY 2006:

• the design and implementation of the initiative of the use of private debt collectors to collect certain tax debts, to protect taxpayer rights
  
  
• striking a balance over the steps under consideration by the IRS to address abuses of Collection Due Process hearings
  
  
• addressing concerns over the IRS process for determining acceptable offer amounts under the Offer-in-Compromise program
  
  
• conducting further research to enable the IRS to identify and quantify the relationship between the variety of taxpayer services the IRS delivers and the impact of those services on taxpayer compliance.

...back to 14 July 2005

Further information:
National Taxpayer Advocate Releases Report to Congress; Cites Need to Balance Taxpayer Service with Enforcement

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