ADVISORY
FROM THE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS

Subcommittee on Oversight

Houghton Hearing on Deceptive Mailing Concerning Tax Refunds

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 to investigate recent reports of a deceptive mailing. Unsuspecting taxpayers are being solicited by a group, calling itself the Revenue Resource Center, that is attempting to convince taxpayers to pay approximately $15 to receive a fact sheet that purports to outline the amount of their upcoming U.S. Department of the Treasury refund check. The hearing will take place on Thursday, July 19, 2001, in B-318 Rayburn House Office Building, beginning at 2:00 p.m.

Oral testimony at this hearing will be from invited witnesses only. 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 Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (P.L. 107-16) directs the U.S. Treasury Department to send checks to most taxpayers beginning later this summer as an advance payment to reflect the new 10 percent tax bracket.

However, there have been recent reports of unscrupulous entities hoping to take advantage of taxpayers who may want further details about their eligibility for this tax refund payment. Taxpayers in at least five States have received postcards designated as "2001 Form 16-B," resembling an official Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax form, and bearing the designation, "Revenue Resource Center," a "Non-Partisan Bureaucratic Agency." The postcard offers to send information on the amount of the recipient's tax refund check in exchange for $14.95. The postcard, which may be easily confused with official IRS correspondence because of its use of certain terms, typeface, and a quotation attributed to President Bush, requests money "in order to identify the amount of the tax credit you are scheduled to receive."

In announcing the hearing, Chairman Houghton stated: "Everyone should be on guard against deceptive mailings that attempt to look like they come from the government and are trying to sell a service the government provides for free. We have to let people know that if they receive this postcard, they should ignore it." In passing the tax relief bill, Congress anticipated questions about these payments, and directed the Treasury Department to send taxpayers a letter telling them the specific information they need to know about their tax refund check. Taxpayers can learn further details about their refund by checking the Internal Revenue Service web site, www.irs.gov.

FOCUS OF THE HEARING:

The hearing will highlight the deceptive mailing being sent to individuals and the way taxpayers can find legitimate information about the tax payment checks they may soon receive.

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, Thursday, August 2, 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.