ADVISORY

FROM THE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS
Subcommittee on Oversight

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Contact: (202) 225-7601
January 27, 1998
No. OV-11

Johnson Announces Hearing on the Annual Report of
the Internal Revenue Service Taxpayer Advocate

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 Annual Report to Congress of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Taxpayer Advocate. The hearing will take place on Tuesday, February 3, 1998, in the main Committee hearing room, 1100 Longworth 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 from invited witnesses only. Witnesses will include Lee Monks, IRS Taxpayer Advocate; and several IRS District Office Taxpayer Advocates who work on the front lines trying to resolve taxpayers' problems. 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:

Congress enacted the Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2 (TBOR 2; P.L.104-168) in 1996 in order to expand the safeguards available to taxpayers in their dealings with the IRS. TBOR 2 requires 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 discusses the 20 most serious problems taxpayers experience in their dealing with the IRS, as well as offering recommendations for administrative and legislative actions to address such recurring problems. Last month, the Taxpayer Advocate submitted his "Annual Report to Congress" covering fiscal year 1997. This is the second report submitted as a consequence of TBOR 2.

The IRS Problem Resolution Program (PRP) is intended to assist taxpayers in cutting through "red tape" and resolving tax disputes more quickly. The Office of the Taxpayer Ombudsman, an executive level position on the immediate staff of the IRS Commissioner, heads the PRP organization. The original 1988 Taxpayer Bill of Rights (P.L. 100-647) and the 1996 TBOR 2 codified many of the administrative safeguards initiated by the Taxpayer Ombudsman and enacted important new taxpayer rights going beyond the existing authority of the IRS. TBOR 2 renamed the Taxpayer Ombudsman as the Taxpayer Advocate and increased his legal authority to help taxpayers.

Along with giving the Taxpayer Advocate more legal authority Congress wanted to exercise more oversight over how the Taxpayer Advocate was administering the PRP program. TBOR 2 sought to achieve a better understanding of taxpayer problems by directing the Taxpayer Advocate to report to Congress annually. Pursuant to TBOR 2, the Taxpayer Advocate's annual report is not subject to review or editing by other persons in the Executive Branch.

In announcing the hearing, Chairman Johnson stated: "The level of public frustration with the IRS has been well established in recent months. We all have heard the horror stories. But it isn't enough to view with alarm. We have to act. The House-approved legislation to restructure the IRS, which includes recommendations of the Oversight Subcommittee for a Taxpayer Bill of Rights 3, is an important step. The Taxpayer Advocate, who has been charged by Congress with identifying problems and making recommendations, has submitted his second annual report. As another tax filing season approaches, it is imperative that we eliminate as many of these problems facing taxpayers as soon as we can."

The hearing will examine the details of the second Taxpayer Advocate report and focus on further administrative and legislative actions needed to help improve taxpayers rights and reduce taxpayer burdens.

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) single-space legal-size copies of their statement, along with an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in ASCII DOS Text or WordPerfect 5.1 format only, with their name, address, and hearing date noted on a label, by the close of business, Tuesday, February 17, 1998, 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 an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in ASCII DOS Text or WordPerfect 5.1 format. Witnesses are advised that the Committee will rely on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record.

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 202-226-3411 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.