IRS implements portions of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2.In Ann. 96-5, the IRS An abbreviation for the Internal Revenue Service, a federal agency charged with the responsibility of administering and enforcing internal revenue laws. recently stated that it will implement several of the proposals included in the "Taxpayer Bill of Rights A federal or state law that gives taxpayers procedural and substantive protection when dealing with a revenue department concerning a tax collection dispute. Perceived abuses by the federal Internal Revenue Service (IRS) during tax audits led to the enactment of the 2," which was part of the vetoed Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1995. Among those proposals to be implemented are: * Expansion of the authority of the taxpayer Ombudsman ombudsman (äm`bədzmən) [Swed.,=agent or representative], public official appointed to deal with individual complaints against government acts. . Under a newly issued delegation order (Delegation Order No. 239 (Rev. 1)), the Service has delegated authority Delegated authority is an authority obtained from another that has authority since the authority does not naturally exist. Typically this is used in a government context where an organization that is created by a legitimate government, such as a Board, City, Town or other to the Ombudsman to issue taxpayer assistance orders (TAOs) to take positive actions to relieve taxpayer hardship. For example, the Ombudsman will have increased stature stature /sta·ture/ (stach´ur) the height or tallness of a person standing.stat´ural stat·ure n. The height of a person. stature the height of an animal in the standing position. within the IRS and greater participation in the selection and evaluation of local district problem resolution officers. * New procedures to allow taxpayers to appeal liens, levies and seizures In counterdrug operations, includes drugs and conveyances seized by law enforcement authorities and drug-related assets (monetary instruments, etc.) confiscated based on evidence that they have been derived from or used in illegal narcotics activities. . Effective Apr. 1, 1996, taxpayers will have the right to appeal liens and levies and seizures proposed by the Service. Taxpayers subject to such liens, levies or seizures will receive Publication 1660, Collection Appeal Rights for Liens, Levies and Seizures, explaining their rights to appeal and the procedure for requesting an appeal. * Notification of collection activity to divorced and separated spouses. The Service will adopt a rule allowing its personnel to notify one spouse spouse A legal marriage partner as defined by state law of collection activity against the other spouse to collect a joint return liability. * Voluntary payer telephone numbers on Forms 1099. Effective immediately, the IRS will request that payers include their telephone numbers on taxpayers' copies of Forms 1099. It is expected that this additional information should make it easier for payees to resolve any discrepancies with payers. * Early appeal of employment tax issues. The Service will soon issue a revenue procedure under which employers will be able to appeal employment tax issues while an examination is still in progress. The purpose of the procedure is to reduce the time and expense necessary to resolve employment tax issues, including those revolving around worker classification. These new initiatives are intended by the IRS to reduce the burden the current system imposes on taxpayers and increase and enhance their rights and protections in the system. |
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