ADVISORY

FROM THE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS

SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT

Lewis Announces a Hearing on the Tax Return Filing Season, Internal Revenue Service Operations, Fiscal Year 2009 Budget Proposals, and the IRS National Taxpayer Advocate’s Annual Report

House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee Chairman John Lewis (D-GA) today announced that the Subcommittee on Oversight will hold a hearing on the 2008 tax return filing season, IRS operations, the fiscal year 2009 budget proposals, and the National Taxpayer Advocate’s Annual Report.  The hearing will take place on Thursday, March 13, 2008, at 10:00 a.m., in the main Committee hearing room, 1100 Longworth House Office Building. 

In view of the limited time available to hear witnesses, oral testimony at this hearing will be from invited witnesses only.  Acting Commissioner Linda Stiff, Internal Revenue Service, and Nina E. Olson, National Taxpayer Advocate, have been invited to testify.  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.                                

FOCUS OF THE HEARING:

In 2007, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) collected $2.7 trillion in taxes and processed nearly 250 million tax returns, including 140 million individual income tax returns.  The Subcommittee will discuss the current tax return filing season with a focus on taxpayer service and assistance, earned income tax credit outreach, and the status of economic stimulus payments.

The Subcommittee also will review IRS operations not related to the filing season.  Specifically, the Subcommittee will look at examination rates, collection activities, the tax gap, electronic filing, and protection of taxpayer information.  In July 2007, the IRS established a new office to focus on data protection and identity theft, including phishing schemes and online fraud.  The Subcommittee will discuss activities of this office to notify and assist potential victims of identity theft and data loss incidents.

As part of its consideration of IRS operations, the Subcommittee will discuss the Administration’s fiscal year 2009 proposed budget for the IRS of $11.4 billion, an increase of 4.3 percent over the fiscal year 2008 level.  The Subcommittee will examine the Administration’s priorities with respect to taxpayer services, enforcement, operations support, and business systems modernization.  Further, the Subcommittee will consider the Administration’s compliance initiatives and budget proposals to close the tax gap. 

Finally, the position of National Taxpayer Advocate was established by the 1996 Taxpayer Bill of Rights (Public Law 104-168).  The purpose of the Taxpayer Advocate is to provide an independent system to address taxpayer problems not resolved by normal channels and to propose changes in the administrative practices of the IRS.  The Taxpayer Advocate must submit a report each year to the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance.  The National Taxpayer Advocate will highlight key issues and recommendations from the December 2007 Report to Congress.

In announcing the hearing, Chairman Lewis said, “The IRS must enforce our tax laws, but it also needs to make taxpayer service a priority so that we maximize the numbers of taxpayers who voluntarily comply with our tax laws.  The Congress must ensure that the IRS operates efficiently and fairly for all Americans.”

DETAILS FOR SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN COMMENTS:

Please Note:  Any person(s) and/or organization(s) wishing to submit comments for the hearing record must follow the appropriate link on the hearing page of the Committee website and complete the informational forms.  From the Committee homepage, http://waysandmeans.house.gov/, select "110th Congress" from the menu entitled, "Committee Hearings” (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/Hearings.asp?congress=18).  Select the hearing for which you would like to submit, and click on the link entitled, "Click here to provide a submission for the record."  Once you have followed the online instructions, completing all informational forms and clicking "submit" on the final page, an email will be sent to the address which you supply confirming your interest in providing a submission for the record.  You MUST REPLY to the email and ATTACH your submission as a Word or WordPerfect document, in compliance with the formatting requirements listed below, by close of business Thursday, March 27, 2008.  Finally, please note that due to the change in House mail policy, the U.S. Capitol Police will refuse sealed-package deliveries to all House Office Buildings.  For questions, or if you encounter technical problems, please call (202) 225-1721.

FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS:

The Committee relies on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record. As always, submissions will be included in the record according to the discretion of the Committee. The Committee will not alter the content of your submission, but we reserve the right to format it according to our guidelines. Any submission provided to the Committee by a witness, any supplementary materials submitted for the printed record, and any written comments in response to a request for written comments must conform to the guidelines listed below. Any submission or supplementary item 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 submissions and supplementary materials must be provided in Word or WordPerfect format and MUST NOT exceed a total of 10 pages, including attachments.  Witnesses and summiteers are advised that the Committee relies 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.  All submissions must include a list of all clients, persons, and/or organizations on whose behalf the witness appears.  A supplemental sheet must accompany each submission listing the name, company, address, telephone and fax numbers of each witness.

Note:  All Committee advisories and news releases are available on the World Wide Web at http://waysandmeans.house.gov. 

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.

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