FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 13, 1997
No. OV-1
Congresswoman Nancy L. Johnson (R-CT), Chairman, Subcommittee on Oversight of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the first Annual Report to Congress from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Taxpayer Advocate. The hearing will take place on Tuesday, February 25, 1997, in room B-318 Rayburn House Office Building, beginning at 2:00 p.m.
In view of the limited time available to hear witnesses, oral testimony at this hearing will be heard from invited witnesses only. The Subcommittee will receive testimony from Lee Monks, the IRS Taxpayer Advocate, and from several IRS District Office Taxpayer Advocates who work on the front lines trying to resolve taxpayers' problems. However, any individual or organization not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the Committee and for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing.
BACKGROUND
Last year, Congress enacted the Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2 (TBOR2) (P.L. 104-168), which expanded upon existing safeguards available to taxpayers in their dealings with the IRS enacted in 1988 in the original Taxpayer Bill of Rights. Among other things, TBOR2 required the IRS Taxpayer Advocate to make an annual report to Congressional tax-writing committees identifying the initiatives undertaken by the Taxpayer Advocate in the previous fiscal year to improve taxpayer services and IRS responsiveness. The report would also have to identify the 20 most serious problems taxpayers experience in their dealings with the IRS, and to recommend appropriate administrative and legislative actions to address such recurring problems.
The IRS created the Problem Resolution Program (PRP) in 1976 in an effort to better assist taxpayers in cutting through "red tape" and more quickly resolve tax disputes. In 1979, the IRS created the Office of the Taxpayer Ombudsman, an executive level position on the immediate staff of the IRS Commissioner, to head the PRP organization. The Taxpayer Ombudsman's chief responsibility was to serve as the primary advocate, within the IRS, for taxpayers.
Throughout the Taxpayer Ombudsman's existence, the position has been held by a career civil servant selected by the IRS Commissioner. In response to a perception that the Taxpayer Ombudsman did not have sufficient stature and authority within the IRS to be an independent advocate for taxpayers, TBOR2 elevated this position within the IRS, renamed it the "Taxpayer Advocate," and increased the Taxpayer Advocate's legal authority to intervene on behalf of taxpayers. Along with giving the Taxpayer Advocate expanded powers, Congress also wanted to exercise more oversight over how the Taxpayer Advocate was administering the PRP. Therefore, TBOR2 required the Taxpayer Advocate to make the above mentioned annual report to Congress.
In announcing the hearing, Chairman Johnson stated: "As taxpayers sit down to prepare their 1996 income tax returns, I want them to know that Congress is proactively examining ways to improve the quality of IRS' customer service. The Taxpayer Advocate's Annual Report is one means of helping us to identify and understand the most frequent problems taxpayers face in their dealings with the IRS, and to develop improvements to minimize the frictions that often occur between taxpayers and the nation's tax collector."
FOCUS OF THE HEARING
The hearing will examine the details of the Taxpayer Advocate's "Annual Report to Congress" covering fiscal year 1996, to identify what further administrative and legislative actions may be appropriate to reduce the burdens taxpayers experience in transacting business with the IRS.
DETAILS FOR SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN COMMENTS
Any person or organization wishing to submit a written statement for the printed record of the hearing should submit at least six (6) copies of their statement and a 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect or ASCII format, with their address and date of hearing noted, by the close of business, Tuesday, March 11, 1997, to A.L. Singleton, Chief of Staff, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, 1102 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515. If those filing written statements wish to have their statements distributed to the press and interested public at the hearing, they may deliver 200 additional copies for this purpose to the Subcommittee on Oversight office, room 1136 Longworth House Office Building, at least one hour before the hearing begins.
FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS
Each statement presented for printing to the Committee by a witness, any written statement or exhibit submitted for the printed record or any written comments in response to a request for written comments must conform to the guidelines listed below. Any statement or exhibit not in compliance with these guidelines will not be printed, but will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
1. All statements and any accompanying exhibits for printing must be typed in single space on legal-size paper and may not exceed a total of 10 pages including attachments. At the same time written statements are submitted to the Committee, witnesses are now requested to submit their statements on a 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect or ASCII format.
2. Copies of whole documents submitted as exhibit material will not be accepted for printing. Instead, exhibit material should be referenced and quoted or paraphrased. All exhibit material not meeting these specifications will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
3. A witness appearing at a public hearing, or submitting a statement for the record of a public hearing, or submitting written comments in response to a published request for comments by the Committee, must include on his statement or submission a list of all clients, persons, or organizations on whose behalf the witness appears.
4. A supplemental sheet must accompany each statement listing the name, full address, a telephone number where the witness or the designated representative may be reached and a topical outline or summary of the comments and recommendations in the full statement. This supplemental sheet will not be included in the printed record.
The above restrictions and limitations apply only to material being submitted for printing. Statements and exhibits or supplementary material submitted solely for distribution to the Members, the press and the public during the course of a public hearing may be submitted in other forms.
The Committee seeks to make its facilities accessible to persons with disabilities. If you are in need of special accommodations, please call 202-225-1721 or 202-225-1904 TTD/TTY in advance of the event (four business days notice is requested). Questions with regard to special accommodation needs in general (including availability of Committee materials in alternative formats) may be directed to the Committee as noted above.