Taxpayer Advocate Service Your Voice at the IRS

Transcription

1 Taxpayer Advocate Service Your Voice at the IRS

2 Welcome

3 Who We Are An independent organization within the IRS Services are free Offices in every state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico

4 Our Mission We help taxpayers resolve problems with the IRS and recommend changes to prevent the problems.

5 TAS Leadership Nina E. Olson National Taxpayer Advocate Rena Girinakis Deputy National Taxpayer Advocate Kim Stewart Executive Director, Systemic Advocacy Lori Mings, Rhonda Kirby, & Bonnie Fuentes Executive Directors, Case Advocacy

6 TAS Offices Office of the National Taxpayer Advocate Washington, D.C. Local TAS offices nationwide One or more in every state One in the District of Columbia One in Puerto Rico One at each IRS campus

7 What We Do TAS is your voice at the IRS! We offer fair, independent, and free help You may be eligible for TAS help if you ve been unable to resolve your tax problem through normal IRS channels TAS helps taxpayers whose IRS problems are causing financial difficulty or significant cost TAS employees know the IRS and how to navigate it The best thing you can do is act now!

8 When We Get Involved Most cases can and should be resolved through normal IRS channels The Taxpayer Advocate Service is not a second IRS

9 TAS Criteria: Economic Burden Experiencing or about to suffer economic harm Facing immediate threat of adverse IRS action Will incur significant cost if relief is not granted Will suffer irreparable injury or long-term adverse impact

10 TAS Criteria: Systemic Burden Delay of more than 30 days past normal processing time No response by promised date Systemic or procedural failure

11 TAS Criteria Best interest of the Taxpayer The manner in which the tax laws are being administered raises considerations of equity or has impaired or will impair the taxpayer s rights Public Policy The NTA determines compelling public policy warrants special assistance to an individual or group of taxpayers

12 Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TBOR) The IRS adopted a Taxpayer Bill of Rights as proposed by the National Taxpayer Advocate, Nina Olson. It applies to all taxpayers in their dealings with the IRS. The Taxpayer Bill of Rights groups the existing rights in the tax code into ten fundamental rights, and makes them clear, understandable, and accessible.

13 Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TBOR) The right to: 1. Be Informed 2. Quality Service 3. Pay No More than the Correct Amount of Tax 4. Challenge the IRS s Position and Be Heard 5. Appeal an IRS Decision in an Independent Forum

14 Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TBOR) The right to: 6. Finality 7. Privacy 8. Confidentiality 9. Retain Representation 10.A Fair and Just Tax System

15 Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TBOR) For more information, visit TBOR pages on our Tax Toolkit at:

16 TAS Authority Taxpayer Assistance Order (TAO) Taxpayer Advocate Directive (TAD)

17 Systemic Advocacy Part of TAS organization Works on issues affecting MULTIPLE taxpayers (individuals or businesses)

18 Bringing Systemic Issues to TAS Systemic Advocacy Management System (SAMS) Web-based system to receive advocacy issues, ideas, suggestions For taxpayers and practitioners, as well as academic, research, and professional organizations irs.gov/sams

19 Reports to Congress Annual Report to Congress and Objectives Report to Congress Submitted to Congress without Treasury or IRS review Available at

20 FY 2016 Objectives Report

21 FY 2016 Objectives Report The 2015 filing season was akin to A Tale of Two Cities. For the majority of taxpayers who filed their returns and did not require IRS assistance, the filing season was generally successful. For the segment of taxpayers who required help from the IRS, the filing season was by far the worst in memory. Nina Olson, National Taxpayer Advocate

22 FY 2016 Objectives Report Filing Season Overview The IRS answered 37% of TP calls routed to customer service reps - average hold time 23 minutes; Compared to 2014: 71% calls answered with wait times of 14 minutes The IRS answered 45% of practitioner calls on the Practitioner Priority Service line - average hold time 45 minutes The IRS answered 39% of TP calls seeking TAS assistance average hold time 19 minutes

23 FY 2016 Objectives Report Filing Season Overview Number of courtesy disconnects received by taxpayers calling the IRS skyrocketed from about 544,000 in 2014 to about 8.8 million this filing season, an increase of more than 1,500%.

24 FY 2016 Objectives Report Filing Season Overview The IRS sharply restricted availability of forms and publications, imposing burden on taxpayers without Internet access or online literacy. Taxpayer Assistance Centers (TACs) and its Tax Form Outlet Partners such as libraries and post offices did not receive forms until February 28, almost halfway through the filing season. Once a TAC ran out of forms or publications, it could not order more.

25 FY 2016 Objectives Report Areas of Focus Assisting Victims of Identity Theft-Related Refund Fraud: The IRS received about 1.6 million calls on the Identity Protection Specialized Unit (IPSU) line and 2.9 million calls on its Taxpayer Protection Program (TPP) line. NTA recommends that the IRS assign a single point of contact for IDT cases.

26 FY 2016 Objectives Report Areas of Focus Affordable Care Act Implementation Return Processing through April 2015: 2.6 million returns filed with Form 8962, Premium Tax Credit (PTC); average credit $3, million returns filed with reporting Individual Shared Responsibility Payment; average payment $ million returns filed with Form 8965, Health Coverage Exemption, claiming exemption from coverage requirements

27 FY 2016 Objectives Report Areas of Focus Affordable Care Act Implementation Issues Erroneous Forms 1095-A, Health Insurance Marketplace Statement Taxpayers did not have to amend returns More than 300,000 taxpayers overpaid ISRP TAS encourages IRS to issue refunds without requiring amended returns Taxpayers must file returns by August 2015 to automatically receive Advanced PTC for 2016 Will need to contact Marketplace to redetermine APTC eligibility

28 FY 2016 Objectives Report Long-Term IRS Strategic Planning NTA s concerns: Taxpayer service decline attributed to IRS funding; however, the IRS needs to rethink its mission and how it allocates resources The IRS views itself as an enforcement agency; however 98% of revenue is paid voluntarily Shouldn t base policies on relatively small population unwilling to comply Can t replace IRS employee-to-taxpayer interaction with online services Need ability to talk with IRS employees to resolve issues

29 FY 2016 Objectives Report More Information More information available on our website:

30 TAS ACA Estimator Tools TAS created three tools for estimating healthcare tax credits and payments: Individual Shared Responsibility Provision (ISRP) Payment Estimator Premium Tax Credit Change Estimator Small Business Health Care Tax Credit (SBHCTC) Estimator

31 Taxpayer Resources: Tax Toolkit

32 Other TAS Programs Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP) Independent panel of citizen volunteers Suggest ways to improve the IRS Contact TAP at or

33 Other TAS Programs Low Income Taxpayer Clinics (LITCs) Assist: Low income taxpayers who have a controversy with the IRS, including taxpayers who speak English as a second language Find the nearest location at

34 How to Contact TAS Use to the Contact Us link on our Tax Toolkit: or Fax or phone the Local Taxpayer Advocates listed in Publication 1546, Your Voice at the IRS Call the NTA Case Intake Line: Download Form 911 from

35 Want to Know More? Facebook: Twitter: YouTube: Tax Toolkit:

36 Questions?

37 Thank you for helping us help taxpayers!