FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Contact: (202) 225-7601
September 17, 1997
No. OV-9
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 to examine the recommendations of the National Commission on Restructuring the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) with regard to taxpayer protections and rights. The hearing will take place on Friday, September 26, 1997, in the main Committee hearing room, 1100 Longworth House Office Building, beginning at 10:00 a.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, among others officials from the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the IRS, and representatives from tax practitioner organizations and other stakeholders with expertise in IRS practice and procedural issues. 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 [See Advisory No. OV-8].
BACKGROUND:
The National Commission on Restructuring the IRS was established by Public Law 104-52. Its purpose was to review the present practices of the IRS and to make recommen-dations for modernizing and improving its efficiency and taxpayer services. The Commission's June 25, 1997, report contains recommendations relating to Executive Branch governance and management of the IRS, Congressional oversight of the IRS, personnel flexibilities, customer service and compliance, technology modernization, electronic filing, tax law simplification, taxpayer rights, and financial accountability.
The Commission's recommendations are embodied in H.R. 2292, the "Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1997," which was introduced on July 30 by Reps. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Ben Cardin (D-MD). H.R. 2292 contains a number of provisions designed to build upon the original Taxpayer Bill of Rights passed by Congress in 1988 (P.L. 100-647), and expanded in last year's Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2 (TBOR 2) (P.L. 104-168).
On September 8, 1997, Chairman Johnson released an Advisory requesting written public comments on these taxpayer rights proposals [See Advisory No. OV-8]. On September 26, 1997, the Subcommittee will receive oral testimony on the taxpayer rights proposals contained in Title III of H.R. 2292 from invited witnesses.
In announcing the hearing Chairman Johnson stated: "I am enthusiastic about exploring more ways to strengthen protections for taxpayers in their dealings with the IRS. The combination of the written public comments and the testimony at our hearing will help us develop the best possible legislation to improve taxpayer rights. Our objective is to do the groundwork on taxpayer rights issues in anticipation of full Committee action on H.R. 2292 sometime in October."
FOCUS OF THE HEARING:
The Subcommittee will examine the Commission's recommendations for taxpayer rights, which are contained in Title III of H.R. 2292. The Subcommittee will also review other taxpayer rights initiatives which the witnesses may offer as part of their testimony.
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, Monday, October 6, 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 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.