Update: new collection appeals program.

As part of its taxpayer rights initiative, the IRS instituted a new appeals process for taxpayers facing a collection action. The program began April 1, 1996.

Any individual or corporation that receives a notice of a lien, levy or seizure now gets an explanation of the appeals process. The explanation includes possible reasons for the appeal, such as the taxpayer's failure to receive proper notice of a levy or the taxpayer's request that the IRS consider certain information before filing a lien. The process involves both the collections manager and the appeals officers.

The appeals process is short, since the procedures place strict time limits on each phase. For instance, IRA taxpayer calls a collection manager to request review of the collection action, the call must be returned within 24 hours. If a taxpayer decides to appeal a collection manager's decision, the case must be decided by the appeals officer within five days.

According to IRS Assistant Commissioner for Collection Ronald Rhodes, most appeals are decided in the IRS's favor. For example, in one region, of 72 collection appeals decided since April 1, 50 were in the IRS's favor, 12 reversed the IRS and the remainder were split decisions.

Speaking at the American Institute of CPAs spring tax division meeting, Rhodes said the new program was running smoothly and that the average time to decide collection appeals was three days.