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The Office of the Taxpayer Advocate, also called the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS), is an office within the
Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory tax ...
(IRS) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, reporting directly to the
Commissioner of Internal Revenue The Commissioner of Internal Revenue is the head of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), an agency within the United States Department of the Treasury. The office of Commissioner was created by Congress as part of the Revenue Act of 1862. Sectio ...
. The office is under the supervision and direction of the National Taxpayer Advocate who is appointed by the
Secretary of Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...
.


History

Established in 1996, the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate has its origins in other
Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory tax ...
programs, such as the Taxpayer Service Program (formalized in 1963) and Problem Resolution Program (established in 1977). On the recommendation of the House Government Operations Committee, the Taxpayer Ombudsman was established within the Office of the IRS Commissioner in 1979, reporting directly to the
Commissioner of Internal Revenue The Commissioner of Internal Revenue is the head of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), an agency within the United States Department of the Treasury. The office of Commissioner was created by Congress as part of the Revenue Act of 1862. Sectio ...
. In 1984, the problem resolution offices (PRO) consisted of 80 full time employees and was headed by George A. O'Hanlon, the IRS ombudsman at the time. Commentators called for expanding the number of ombudsman as part of wider criticism of how the IRS was operating. The 1988 Taxpayer Bill of rights gave the Ombudsman additional authority to intervene and overturn IRS decisions in certain cases. The position of Taxpayer Advocate was created under the Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2, an act of the
United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washi ...
which became law on July 30, 1996. The office replaced the previous Office of the
Ombudsman An ombudsman (, also ,), ombud, ombuds, ombudswoman, ombudsperson or public advocate is an official who is usually appointed by the government or by parliament (usually with a significant degree of independence) to investigate complaints and at ...
within the IRS. The Taxpayer Advocate was initially appointed by the IRS commissioner until the
Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 The Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, also known as Taxpayer Bill of Rights III (), resulted from hearings held by the United States Congress in 1996 and 1997. The Act included numerous amendments to the Internal Revenu ...
transferred appointment authority to the
United States Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...
.


Responsibilities


Individual case advocacy

The TAS consists of approximately 1,800 employees. About 1,400 of these are Case Advocates, who personally assist taxpayers in resolving their problems with the IRS. To qualify for this personal assistance, taxpayers must be experiencing economic harm or significant cost (including fees for professional representation), have experienced a delay of more than 30 days to resolve their tax issue, or they have not received a response or resolution to the problem by the date that was promised by the IRS. Cases are handled by a Local Taxpayer Advocate office located in each US state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. These offices are contacted directly by taxpayers, or receive cases referred by the IRS or congress. The National Taxpayer Advocate may, upon application from a taxpayer, issue a Taxpayer Assistance Order (TAO) if the Advocate determines that the taxpayer is suffering (or is about to suffer) a "significant hardship" resulting from the way the U.S. Federal tax law is being administered, or if the taxpayer meets other prescribed requirements. The TAO may require the IRS to release property that has been levied, or to cease any action, or to take legally permitted action, or to refrain from taking an action against the taxpayer, under various provisions of the tax law.


Systemic advocacy

In addition, the TAS identifies systemic problems that exist within the Internal Revenue Service and, to the extent possible, propose changes in the administrative practices and identify potential legislative changes which may be appropriate to mitigate such problems. These observations and proposals are presented to Congress each year in the National Taxpayer Advocate's "Annual Report to Congress".


Leadership

The National Taxpayer Advocate is the head of the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate, is appointed by the
Secretary of Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...
, and reports directly to the
Commissioner of Internal Revenue The Commissioner of Internal Revenue is the head of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), an agency within the United States Department of the Treasury. The office of Commissioner was created by Congress as part of the Revenue Act of 1862. Sectio ...
., ยง101(a) The Advocate acts as an
ombudsman An ombudsman (, also ,), ombud, ombuds, ombudswoman, ombudsperson or public advocate is an official who is usually appointed by the government or by parliament (usually with a significant degree of independence) to investigate complaints and at ...
for the taxpayer. In addition to the duties as the head of the office, the Advocate is responsible for submitting annual reports on objectives and recommendations to the Committee on Ways and Means of the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...
and the Committee on Finance of the
United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...
. The reports are submitted without any prior review or comment from the Commissioner, the
Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...
, any other officer or employee of the Department of the Treasury, or the
Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, poli ...
.


Criticism

The organization has been criticized as redundant, taking over the role of gathering accurate information on the IRS that was previously handled by the
General Accounting Office The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is a legislative branch government agency that provides auditing, evaluative, and investigative services for the United States Congress. It is the supreme audit institution of the federal govern ...
. Despite some degree of independence from the IRS, the taxpayer advocate office is not fully independent, and still has incentives to avoid releasing damaging information. Finally, the taxpayer advocate may be overly focused on reacting to problems rather than preventing them in the first place.


See also

*
Internal Revenue Service Oversight Board The IRS Oversight Board is a nine-member board established by the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 to oversee the Internal Revenue Service. It usually meets four times a year. The board made recommendations such as de ...
* Independent Office of Appeals *
Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) is an office in the United States Federal government. It was established in January 1999 in accordance with the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 (RRA 98) ...
*
Tax law Tax law or revenue law is an area of legal study in which public or sanctioned authorities, such as federal, state and municipal governments (as in the case of the US) use a body of rules and procedures (laws) to assess and collect taxes in a ...


References


External links

*
The Taxpayer Advocate Service is Your Voice at the IRS
{{Authority control Taxpayer Advocate Services