Agency overview | |
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Headquarters | Internal Revenue Service Building 1111 Constitution Ave., NW Washington, D.C. 20224 United States |
Motto | Your Voice at the IRS |
Employees | 2,000 (2024) |
Annual budget | $271 million (2024) |
Agency executives |
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Parent agency | Internal Revenue Service |
Website | www |
The Office of the Taxpayer Advocate, also called the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS), is an office within the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, reporting directly to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. [1] The office is under the supervision and direction of the National Taxpayer Advocate, who is appointed by the Secretary of Treasury.
Established in 1996, the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate has its origins in other Internal Revenue Service programs, such as the Taxpayer Service Program (formalized in 1963) [2] and Problem Resolution Program (established in 1977). [3] 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. [4] 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. [5] [6] Commentators called for expanding the number of ombudsman as part of wider criticism of how the IRS was operating. [3] The 1988 Taxpayer Bill of rights gave the Ombudsman additional authority to intervene and overturn IRS decisions in certain cases. [7]
The position of Taxpayer Advocate was created under the Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2, an act of the United States Congress which became law on July 30, 1996. The office replaced the previous Office of the Ombudsman within the IRS. [8] The Taxpayer Advocate was initially appointed by the IRS commissioner until the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 transferred appointment authority to the United States Secretary of the Treasury.
The TAS consists of approximately 2,000 employees. About 1,400 of these are Case Advocates, who personally assist taxpayers in resolving their problems with the IRS. Taxpayers may qualify for personal assistance from TAS if they are experiencing economic harm or significant cost (including fees for professional representation) as a result of their tax issue, have experienced a delay of more than 30 days in resolving their issue, or have not received a response or resolution by the date promised by the IRS. [9]
Cases are handled by a Local Taxpayer Advocate office located in each US state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. [10] These offices are contacted directly by taxpayers, and also receive cases referred by the IRS or Members of 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. [11] [12] The TAO may require the IRS to release property that has been levied, or to cease an action, or to take legally permitted action, or to refrain from taking any action against the taxpayer, under various provisions of the tax law. [13]
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. [14] These observations and proposals are presented to Congress each year in the National Taxpayer Advocate's "Annual Report to Congress". [9]
The National Taxpayer Advocate is the head of the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate, is appointed by the Secretary of Treasury and reports directly to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. [14] The Advocate acts as an ombudsman 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 and the Committee on Finance of the United States Senate. [14] The reports are submitted without any prior review or comment from the Commissioner, the Secretary of the Treasury, any other officer or employee of the Department of the Treasury, or the Office of Management and Budget. [14]
Name | Term start | Term end |
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Harold M. Browning [15] | January 14, 1980 | |
George A. O'Hanlon | 1983 | |
Damon O. Holmes | Dec 6, 1987 | Feb 1993 |
Lee R. Monks [16] | June 1993 | 1998 |
W. Val Oveson [17] | 1998 | October 2000 |
Henry O. Lamar, Jr. (acting) | ||
Nina E. Olson [18] | January 2001 | July 31, 2019 |
Bridget T. Roberts (acting) [19] | July 31, 2019 | March 30, 2020 |
Erin M. Collins [20] [21] | March 30, 2020 | - |
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. 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. [22] [23]
A tax lien is a lien which is imposed upon a property by law in order to secure the payment of taxes. A tax lien may be imposed for the purpose of collecting delinquent taxes which are owed on real property or personal property, or it may be imposed as a result of a failure to pay income taxes or it may be imposed as a result of a failure to pay other taxes.
The United States Tax Court is a federal trial court of record established by Congress under Article I of the U.S. Constitution, section 8 of which provides that the Congress has the power to "constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court". The Tax Court specializes in adjudicating disputes over federal income tax, generally prior to the time at which formal tax assessments are made by the Internal Revenue Service.
The Commissioner of Internal Revenue is the head of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), an agency within the United States Department of the Treasury.
A Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) is an identifying number used for tax purposes in the United States and in other countries under the Common Reporting Standard. In the United States it is also known as a Tax Identification Number (TIN) or Federal Taxpayer Identification Number (FTIN). A TIN may be assigned by the Social Security Administration (SSA) or by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
The United States federal government and most state governments impose an income tax. They are determined by applying a tax rate, which may increase as income increases, to taxable income, which is the total income less allowable deductions. Income is broadly defined. Individuals and corporations are directly taxable, and estates and trusts may be taxable on undistributed income. Partnerships are not taxed, but their partners are taxed on their shares of partnership income. Residents and citizens are taxed on worldwide income, while nonresidents are taxed only on income within the jurisdiction. Several types of credits reduce tax, and some types of credits may exceed tax before credits. Most business expenses are deductible. Individuals may deduct certain personal expenses, including home mortgage interest, state taxes, contributions to charity, and some other items. Some deductions are subject to limits, and an Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) applies at the federal and some state levels.
The business mileage reimbursement rate is an optional standard mileage rate used in the United States for purposes of computing the allowable business deduction, for Federal income tax purposes under the Internal Revenue Code, at 26 U.S.C. § 162, for the business use of a vehicle. Under the law, the taxpayer for each year is generally entitled to deduct either the actual expense amount, or an amount computed using the standard mileage rate, whichever is greater.
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 Revenue Code of 1986. The bill was passed in the Senate unanimously, and was seen as a major reform of the Internal Revenue Service.
The Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2 is an Act of Congress. Among other things, it created the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate.
Tax protesters in the United States have advanced a number of arguments asserting that the assessment and collection of the federal income tax violates statutes enacted by the United States Congress and signed into law by the President. Such arguments generally claim that certain statutes fail to create a duty to pay taxes, that such statutes do not impose the income tax on wages or other types of income claimed by the tax protesters, or that provisions within a given statute exempt the tax protesters from a duty to pay.
Tommy Keith Cryer, also known as Tom Cryer, was an attorney in Shreveport, Louisiana who was charged with and later acquitted of willful failure to file U.S. Federal income tax returns in a timely fashion. In a case in United States Tax Court, Cryer contested a determination by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service that he owed $1.7 million in taxes and penalties. Before the case could come to trial, Cryer died June 4, 2012. He was 62.
Nina E. Olson is a former United States Taxpayer Advocate, and former head of the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate, a government office dedicated to helping taxpayers solve their problems with the Internal Revenue Service. From 1975 to 1991, she was a tax preparer in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
A tax levy under United States federal law is an administrative action by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) under statutory authority, generally without going to court, to seize property to satisfy a tax liability. The levy "includes the power of distraint and seizure by any means". The general rule is that no court permission is required for the IRS to execute a tax levy.
A tax protester is someone who refuses to pay a tax claiming that the tax laws are unconstitutional or otherwise invalid. Tax protesters are different from tax resisters, who refuse to pay taxes as a protest against a government or its policies, or a moral opposition to taxation in general, not out of a belief that the tax law itself is invalid. The United States has a large and organized culture of people who espouse such theories. Tax protesters also exist in other countries.
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 law. It is an agency of the Department of the Treasury and led by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, who is appointed to a five-year term by the President of the United States. The duties of the IRS include providing tax assistance to taxpayers; pursuing and resolving instances of erroneous or fraudulent tax filings; and overseeing various benefits programs, including the Affordable Care Act.
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) to provide independent oversight of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) activities. As mandated by RRA 98, TIGTA assumed most of the responsibilities of the IRS' former Inspection Service.
Tax protesters in the United States advance a number of administrative arguments asserting that the assessment and collection of the federal income tax violates regulations enacted by responsible agencies –primarily the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)– tasked with carrying out the statutes enacted by the United States Congress and signed into law by the President. Such arguments generally include claims that the administrative agency fails to create a duty to pay taxes, or that its operation conflicts with some other law, or that the agency is not authorized by statute to assess or collect income taxes, to seize assets to satisfy tax claims, or to penalize persons who fail to file a return or pay the tax.
In the United States, there is no unified federal ombudsman service. The role of handling complaints against federal authorities has to some extent been unofficially incorporated into the role of the US Member of Congress. This informal job has become increasingly time-consuming. It is subject to criticism on the grounds that it interferes with a legislator's primary duty, namely to read and be knowledgeable about a bill before casting his or her vote.
In the United States, an income tax audit is the examination of a business or individual tax return by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or state tax authority. The IRS and various state revenue departments use the terms audit, examination, review, and notice to describe various aspects of enforcement and administration of the tax laws.
Under the federal law of the United States of America, tax evasion or tax fraud is the purposeful illegal attempt of a taxpayer to evade assessment or payment of a tax imposed by Federal law. Conviction of tax evasion may result in fines and imprisonment. Compared to other countries, Americans are more likely to pay their taxes on time and law-abidingly.
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.