National Taxpayer Advocate Submits Annual Report to Congress

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4 years ago

Five Stone Tax Advisers' Take on an Important Tax-Related Article:

National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olsen sent her 2014 Annual Report to Congress yesterday. The report takes the newly implemented Taxpayer Bill of Rights and provides a very thorough and comprehensive statistical analysis of the issues facing taxpayers. For example, under the “Right to Quality Service,” Ms. Olsen indicates that “taxpayer service has reached unacceptably low levels.” The report goes on to discuss issues from Collection Due Process Hearings to the failure by the IRS to fully realize the potential of the Offer in Compromise program in 2014. The report also discusses the ten most litigated tax issues and three case studies of which centers around the impact of audits on small businesses. Here are some facts to consider:

Over 200 million taxpayers interact with the IRS on a yearly basis.
Individual tax return compliance has increased 11%, i.e. more returns to process.
Business tax return compliance has increased 18%, i.e. more returns to process.
IRS is now in charge of ACA and FATCA compliance, more information to process.
Over the same timeline, IRS budget has been reduced by 17% or a loss of 12,000 employees.
The current employee base has received very little, to virtually no on the job training or education.

The takeaway here is that the IRS will be asked to do much more with less. The IRS will likely have to lay-off or furlough employees in 2015 which will further reduce their ability to provide taxpayer service. Taxpayers facing issues with the IRS should not try to do-it-yourself as this will likely lead to a dead-end very fast. Retaining an experienced Federally Authorized Tax Practitioner for both tax preparation and tax resolution needs to properly guide a taxpayer through the defunct maze that is the IRS is more important now than ever before.

About Five Stone Tax Advisers

Five Stone Tax Advisers has years of experience negotiating directly with the IRS to get the best possible outcome while preventing aggressive collection actions. Our compassionate and knowledgeable tax resolution team of Tax Attorneys, Certified Public Accountants, Enrolled Agents and administrators are exceptional at resolving complex IRS tax problems; ensuring the lowest possible tax liability is paid, and in most cases, saving our clients a substantial amount of money, while providing invaluable peace of mind.