Covering the IRS скачать в хорошем качестве

Covering the IRS

National Taxpayer Advocate Points to Problems, Solutions for Declining IRS Service. Erin Collins is the official “voice of the taxpayer” in the federal government — and there are plenty of things she’d like to tell the agency. by Gabriel Pietrorazio, National Press Foundation Declining service hurt the nation’s tax agency in 2020 and 2021. Customer service worsened at the Internal Revenue Service during the COVID-19 pandemic. Workers were sent home at the same time the agency’s workload increased due to the need to manage COVID stimulus checks. “This is probably a devastating year for taxpayers and terrible year for the IRS,” said Erin Collins, who serves as the nation’s taxpayer advocate within the IRS. The IRS was inundated with phone calls, leading to “a very low level of service,” she said; recovering from such pandemic declines is going to be a real challenge for the agency. A technological overhaul is long overdue. Collins said the IRS “needs to get in the 21st century.” Each January, her office files a report to Congress identifying 10 of the most serious issues affecting taxpayers and identifying potential solutions. As the most recent report to Congress notes: “The IRS continues to operate the two oldest major IT systems still in use in the federal government, dating to the early 1960s. … Obsolete systems limit the functionality of taxpayer accounts, prevent taxpayers from obtaining full details about the status of their cases and impede the IRS’s ability to select the best cases for compliance actions.” Among other things, the agency needs to expand access to online accounts. Even getting digital signatures during COVID-19 was “a huge plus” for Americans. “I’m a big believer that we should have more digital communication with our taxpayers,” Collins said. Expect collections to start picking up soon. Collins said the IRS has been “considerate” about the financial challenges plaguing Americans due to the coronavirus – so much so that agents haven’t been “robustly collecting” taxes due, at least in comparison to the pre-pandemic era. “Due to COVID, they weren’t knocking on doors and asking for collections or outstanding tax liability,” Collins said. She expects that leniency to change soon. Collections activity is going to pick up, generating a lot of questions and concerns from taxpayers. Keep a close tab on coming child tax credits. The IRS will soon send out more than 36 million letters to families for possible child tax credits payments. The newly authorized child tax credits are funded through President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act. Collins said “everything is on track” and “expected to go smoothly.” Even so, problems may still arise. One of those challenges originates from the phone lines “because that is really the lifeline for taxpayers,” Collins said. How to tap into Taxpayer Advocate Service expertise. The Taxpayer Advocate Service was created by Congress as an “advocate for taxpayers within the government.” Collins said that it advocates on behalf of individuals who might be getting ignored or rebuffed by the IRS. It has offices around the nation and provides tax data by income, state and congressional district. Collins’ blog addresses many problems taxpayers are facing and is a good starting point for local stories about Americans’ ongoing struggles with the IRS. Speaker: Erin M. Collins, National Taxpayer Advocate, Internal Revenue Service This program was funded by the Evelyn Y. Davis Foundation. NPF is solely responsible for the content. NPF website: https://nationalpress.org/ NPF resources on government: https://nationalpress.org/topics/gove...