Opening Statement of Hon. William J. Coyne, M.C., Pennsylvania

Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Oversight
of the House Committee on Ways and Means

Hearing on the Taxpayer Advocate Report and the Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic Program

July 12, 2001

As Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Oversight, I want to welcome Ms. Nina Olson to today's hearing. Ms. Olson is the Internal Revenue Service's new Taxpayer Advocate and an articulate spokesperson for taxpayers in need of assistance. It is particularly appropriate that her testimony is followed by distinguished representatives of low-income tax clinics throughout the country. Ms. Olson is one of the country's best known advocates of low-income taxpayer assistance and an excellent choice to head the IRS National Taxpayer Advocate's Office.

As a Member of the IRS Restructuring Commission, I remember well our discussions about how fairness dictates that all taxpayers have access to professional assistance in resolving their tax controversies with the IRS. Too often simple IRS notices or minor amounts of taxes due can turn into complicated and expensive tax problems. Many taxpayers do not know how to navigate the multi-faceted IRS system. This is particularly true for those who cannot afford to hire accountants or are not proficient in English. This is why I urged the IRS Commission and the Ways and Means Committee, in adopting the 1998 IRS Restructuring and Reform Act, to include special matching funds for tax clinics to serve those in need.

The tax clinic program has been in place now for three years and, by all reports, it has been a great success. The grants for low-income clinics have grown each year and, for fiscal year 2001, are funding over 102 clinics at a total cost of $6 million. This is a program that deserves our support.

I am personally proud that two universities located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, are operating low-income tax clinics. The University of Pittsburgh School of Law and the Duquesne University School of Law are recipients of low-income tax clinic grants, and they are doing a great job. I want to personally welcome Mr. Dixon Rich, from the Pittsburgh Law School clinic. Professor Rich and Clinic Director Martha Mannix have been instrumental in providing my constituents with top-rate assistance in handling IRS tax problems.

I also want to thank Subcommittee Chairman Houghton for arranging this hearing. Oversight of IRS programs is one of the most important things this Subcommittee does. There is much we can learn from our hearing witnesses today. In reviewing operation of the tax clinic program, I look forward to our discussion of:

• how the program can be improved,
• what low-income tax clinic taxpayers find most difficult in complying with our tax laws, and
• which tax code provisions could be simplified to reduce complexitytaxpayer confusion, and unnecessary dealings with the IRS

This information will be particularly helpful during the Subcommittee's joint hearing next week on tax simplification.

Thank you.