ADVISORY
FROM THE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS

Subcommittee on Oversight

Houghton Announces Hearing on 2001 Tax Return Filing Season

Congressman Amo Houghton (R-NY), Chairman, Subcommittee on Oversight of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the 2001 tax return filing season. The hearing will take place on Tuesday, April 3, 2001, in the main Committee hearing room, 1100 Longworth House Office Building, beginning at 2:00 p.m.

Oral testimony at this hearing will be from invited witnesses only. Witnesses will include Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Charles Rossotti, the National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson, and representatives from the U.S. General Accounting Office, the U.S. Department of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, and tax practitioner groups. 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:

The 2001 tax return filing season refers to the period from January 1^st to April 15^th (April 16^th this year in most of the United States) when U.S. taxpayers will file over 130 million tax returns, including 42.3 million e-filed returns (a projected 9.6 percent increase over the 2000 filing season). During this period the IRS is expected to issue over 96.8 million tax refunds, answer 62 million telephone calls from taxpayers asking for assistance, and its homepage will receive 2 billion hits.

In announcing the hearing, Chairman Houghton stated: "Customer Service. This was the promise of the new IRS after the Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998. This hearing gives us the opportunity to ensure that the IRS is living up to its promise by processing taxpayer questions, returns, and refunds as efficiently as possible. I am looking forward to the Commissioner's testimony."

FOCUS OF THE HEARING:

The Subcommittee will review the progress in customer service offered by the IRS in the 2001 tax filing season, including progress in the customer communications system, electronic filing, and systems modernization.

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 six (6) single-spaced copies of their statement, along with an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect or MS Word format, with their name, address, and hearing date noted on a label, by the close of business, Tuesday, April 17, 2001, to Allison Giles, 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, by close of business the day before the hearing.

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 submitted on an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect or MS Word format, typed in single space and may not exceed a total of 10 pages including attachments. 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, company, address, telephone and fax numbers where the witness or the designated representative may be reached. 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.

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.