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Want to avoid delays this filing season, including refund delays? Find out how by visiting us at one of the locations below during the week of January 13 – 17.

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Thousands of people struggle through the IRS processes each year. Our Taxpayer Roadmap shows what a complex and confusing journey it can be if your tax return has errors.

Just stop by, let us put our 20 years of advocacy experience with the IRS to work for you with tips to avoid common filling errors and unnecessary refund delays this season, and pass “go” with confidence.

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Subscribe to the NTA’s Blog and receive updates on the latest blog posts from Acting National Taxpayer Advocate Bridget T. Roberts. Additional blogs can be found at www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/blog.

On July 1, 2019, the Taxpayer First Act (TFA) was signed into law. The TFA makes the most significant changes to IRS administrative procedures since the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998. The TFA strengthens certain taxpayer rights and requires modifications to the IRS’s organizational structure, customer service priorities, enforcement procedures, information technology, and use of electronic systems. More than 25 provisions in the TFA were recommended or strongly supported by the National Taxpayer Advocate (NTA) and TAS. In this blog, I will summarize the provisions directly affecting TAS and identify the provisions for which we advocated.

Provisions Impacting TAS

Codification of Taxpayer Advocate Directive (TAD) Authority. Since 1979, there has been a senior official within the IRS to advocate for taxpayers. Initially, the position was created administratively, and the individual who held it was known as the “ombudsman.” In 1988, Congress codified the position and authorized the issuance of Taxpayer Assistance Orders (TAOs). In 1998, Congress renamed the position as the National Taxpayer Advocate. TAOs allow the NTA to order the IRS to take or refrain from taking certain actions when a taxpayer is facing a significant hardship as a result of the IRS’s actions.

Through the 1988 and 1998 acts, Congress strengthened the authority of the NTA and gave the NTA the authority and responsibility both to advocate for taxpayers in individual cases (case advocacy) and to advocate for systemic change on behalf of all taxpayers or groups of taxpayers (systemic advocacy). A TAO, however, may only be used in the context of case advocacy. To strengthen the NTA’s systemic advocacy capability, the Commissioner administratively granted the NTA the authority to issue Taxpayer Advocate Directives (TADs) — which are analogous to TAOs. I should note that both TAOs and TADs may be rescinded by the Commissioner or the Deputy Commissioner, so they serve primarily as tools that enable the NTA to elevate issues to the IRS’s senior leadership for decision.

The TFA has taken the administrative TAD authority and for the first time codified and enhanced key aspects of it. The Internal Revenue Code (IRC) now requires the IRS to respond to any TAD within 90 days, and if the Deputy Commissioner refuses to comply with the TAD, the NTA may appeal it to the Commissioner, who must either comply or provide a written response explaining his reasons for modifying or rescinding it. Furthermore, the NTA’s Annual Report to Congress (page 680 ) must identify any TAD that was not timely honored by the IRS. The statutory TAD authority will provide the NTA with an additional tool to call attention to important taxpayer rights issues, and although the Commissioner appropriately will always have the final say, it will provide transparency to Congress and the public about the nature of any disagreements. 

Number of “Most Serious Problems” in NTA Annual Reports to Congress. Under prior law, the NTA was required to report on at least 20 of the “most serious problems” encountered by taxpayers in their dealings with the IRS. The TFA reduced that number to ten. The House Ways and Means Committee report (page 60) explained that the intent of the change is to “streamline and focus” the report.

Coordination with TIGTA on Research or Studies. The TFA requires the NTA, before beginning any research or study for Annual Reports to Congress, to coordinate with the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) to avoid duplication of efforts.

Statistical Support for NTA Annual Reports to Congress. The TFA requires the IRS to provide statistical support for the NTA’s Annual Reports to Congress and directs the NTA to indicate whether statistical information was reviewed or provided by the IRS and determined to be valid.

NTA Salary. Under prior law, the IRS had the discretion to set the NTA’s pay at either the highest rate of basic pay established for the Senior Executive Service under section 5382 of Title 5 of the United States Code or at a rate permitted under the “Critical Pay” law (section 9503 of Title 5 of the United States Code). Although the IRS could pay the NTA a substantially higher salary under the Critical Pay provisions, the NTA expressed concern that the IRS could use its authority to set the NTA’s compensation as an inducement for the NTA to refrain from criticism of the agency. For that reason, the NTA had recommended that Congress establish a fixed rate of pay for the NTA, as it has done for inspectors general under the Inspector General Act. The TFA implements that recommendation.

Taxpayer Rights Provisions

Apart from its provisions affecting TAS, the TFA contains significant new taxpayer rights protections, including the following:

• Creation of Independent Office of Appeals (page 3), access to certain taxpayer files before conferences, and the right to protest the IRS’s decision not to send a case to Appeals;
• Creation of plans to improve customer service (page 5) and Information Technology systems (page 28);
• Requirement to annually train IRS employees (page 34) on taxpayer rights and TAS;
• Codification of the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) grant program (page 13);
• Authorization of the IRS to work with financial institutions to identify misdirected refunds (page 21);
• Safeguards to prevent and assist taxpayers who are victims of identity theft (page 21);
• Authorization for IRS employees to recommend a specific Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (page 17); and
• Prevention of certain low-income taxpayer accounts from assignment to private debt collectors (page 9).

I am pleased to report that the IRS appears committed to effectively implementing the TFA. Recently, the Commissioner announced the formation of an office within the IRS to oversee and coordinate the agency’s TFA implementation efforts. The new office will be headed by a group of four, composed of the Commissioner’s Chief of Staff and representatives of the Wage & Investment Division, the Small Business/Self-Employed Division, and the IRS’s Information Technology function. 

My one concern is that TAS has not been included as a core member of the TFA implementation team. Congress created the position of the NTA to serve as the statutory voice of the taxpayer within the IRS. To implement the aptly named “Taxpayer First Act,” I believe TAS should have a seat at the table to the same extent as key IRS operating divisions, particularly for purposes of implementing the TFA requirements that the IRS develop a comprehensive customer service strategy, modernize the IRS’s organizational structure, create online taxpayer accounts, and develop a comprehensive employee training strategy that includes taxpayer rights.

Regardless, we stand ready to work together with the agency to implement the new law in a manner that is effective and efficient for both the IRS and taxpayers, all while ensuring the protection of taxpayer rights.

National Taxpayer Advocate Recommendations or Conclusions Included in Taxpayer First Act

The views expressed in this blog are solely those of the Acting National Taxpayer Advocate. The Acting National Taxpayer Advocate presents an independent taxpayer perspective that does not necessarily reflect the position of the IRS, the Treasury Department, or the Office of Management and Budget.

If you prepare or help prepare federal tax returns for compensation, you must have a valid Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) from the IRS. It only takes 15 minutes to renew your Preparer Tax Identification Number or PTIN. Find out how to renew in just a few easy steps. The IRS PTIN system also allows you to update your account information, view your continuing education credits, and more. Read more

Subscribe to the NTA’s Blog and receive updates on the latest blog posts from Acting National Taxpayer Advocate Bridget T. Roberts. Additional blogs can be found at www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/blog.

Each December, the National Taxpayer Advocate identifies the Most Serious Problems facing taxpayers and makes recommendations for addressing them in the Annual Report to Congress (ARC). Each June, the National Taxpayer Advocate submits the Objectives Report to Congress, which includes a second volume that contains the IRS’s responses to our recommendations together with our analysis of the IRS’s responses.

As the Acting National Taxpayer Advocate, I believe it is important for taxpayers, tax practitioners, and Members of Congress to see how the IRS responded, and I will highlight a few examples of its responses and related analysis.

• Most Serious Problem 1 - Tax Law Questions: The IRS has agreed to study the feasibility of returning to its previous practice of answering in-scope tax law questions year-round on the phones.
• Most Serious Problem 2 - Chief Counsel Transparency: IRS Counsel has agreed to clarify the standards that should be considered when deciding whether legal advice should be issued in a formal memorandum.
• Most Serious Problem 4 -  Free File: The IRS has agreed to make numerous improvements to the Free File program, including evaluating ways to expand the program for English as second language taxpayers.
• Most Serious Problem 5 - False Positive Rate: The IRS has agreed to take steps to evaluate the effectiveness of its fraud detection systems (and their associated high false positive rates) and to collaborate with TAS on a study analyzing why some taxpayers delay responding to IRS identity-authentication notices.
• Most Serious Problem 9 - Field Examination and Most Serious Problem 10 – Office Examination: For these two problems, the IRS continues to disagree that it needs to more carefully track what happens after an audit, including whether the taxpayer appeals and maintains future compliance, to better refine its audit selection process and maximize limited resources.
• Most Serious Problem 11 - Post Processing Math Error and Most Serious Problem 12 – Math Error Notices: The IRS has declined to adopt a policy to limit its use of math error authority to circumstances least likely to burden taxpayers or waste IRS resources. While it did agree to implement some of TAS’s recommended changes to improve math error notice clarity, the IRS has not adopted TAS’s recommendations to improve the efficiency of math errors and protect taxpayer rights.
• Most Serious Problem 13 - Statutory Notices of Deficiency: The IRS has agreed to include specific TAS office information in statutory notices of deficiency.
• Most Serious Problem 15 - Economic Hardship: While the IRS has implemented certain safeguards for taxpayers experiencing economic hardship, it has not agreed to implement a systemic economic hardship indicator that would identify taxpayers who have incomes lower than their allowable living expenses and no detectable assets. We recommended the IRS implement an economic hardship indicator to help ensure it doesn’t collect from low income taxpayers under circumstances that would leave them without adequate means to provide for their basic living expenses.

For those interested in more detail on the IRS’s full responses to all 20 Most Serious Problems identified in our Annual Report to Congress, I encourage you to read this year’s Volume 2 included in our Fiscal Year 2020 Objectives Report to Congress.

The views expressed in this blog are solely those of the Acting National Taxpayer Advocate. The Acting National Taxpayer Advocate presents an independent taxpayer perspective that does not necessarily reflect the position of the IRS, the Treasury Department, or the Office of Management and Budget.

Every year, the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) helps thousands of people with tax problems. This story is only one of many examples of how TAS helps resolve taxpayer’s tax issues. All personal details are removed to protect the taxpayer’s privacy.

The mission of TAS is to help taxpayers resolve problems with the IRS and recommend changes to prevent the problems. When constituents contact their congressional office for help with tax matter, TAS works closely with the congressional staff member to assist in the resolution.
 
In this case, the taxpayer was living overseas where their foreign bank had changed its policy for cashing checks, and consequently the taxpayer could not cash his IRS refund check. The taxpayer returned the refund check to the IRS but wasn’t successful in getting it reissued as a direct deposit. The taxpayer then contacted his congressional office for help.
 
The taxpayer’s congressional representative contacted TAS for assistance in getting the taxpayer’s tax refund reissued to a bank account. The case advocate quickly determined that the usual method for reissuing a check as a direct deposit wouldn’t work because the foreign bank and routing account numbers weren’t universal – but the case advocate did not give up. The case advocate began an extensive research and investigative process and determined that an alternative approach of a wire deposit could be used in this situation. It took just one day after discovering this process for the taxpayer to successfully receive the refund in his bank account.

When working with the Taxpayer Advocate Service, each individual or business taxpayer is assigned to an advocate who listens to the problem and helps the taxpayer understand what needs to be done to resolve their tax issue. TAS advocates will do everything they can to help taxpayers and work with them every step of the way. Occasionally TAS features stories of taxpayers and advocates who work together to resolve complex tax issues. Read more TAS success stories.

Learn more about whether TAS can help you: TAS eligibility.