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handle is hein.crs/govehmr0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congres &onaI Resedrch Sen/ce informing he~ eilive dIate sino 19 14 Updated July 7, 2022 Taxpayer Advocate Service: Purpose, History, Performance, and Resources The Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) is intended to play a significant role in protecting taxpayer rights and fostering taxpayer confidence in the accountability and integrity of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). TAS does this by receiving and seeking to resolve taxpayer problems in working with the IRS. This In Focus looks into TAS's purpose and procedures, history, performance, and resources. Purpose and Procedures The authority of the TAS and its director, the National Taxpayer Advocate (NTA), is set forth in Sections 7803(c) and 7811 of the federal tax code. The NTA is appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury and has no term limit. TAS's statutory mission is to help taxpayers resolve problems with the IRS; identify issues in dealing with the IRS that affect large numbers of taxpayers; and propose legislation and changes in tax administration to address those issues. TAS has two main functions, as specified in Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 7803(c)(2): case advocacy and systemic advocacy. Case advocacy is concerned with protecting taxpayer rights before the IRS and helping taxpayers resolve problems with the IRS. Systemic advocacy focuses on identifying systemic problems with taxpayer services that affect large numbers of taxpayers and recommending legislative or administrative remedies. TAS receives cases through a variety of sources. These include referrals from the IRS and congressional offices; direct contact with taxpayers via email, regular mail, and the NTA's toll-free telephone lines; and visits to Local Tax Advocate offices (LTAs). TAS only accepts cases that meet certain criteria. A case has to present an economic or a procedural burden to a taxpayer, or raise questions about the impact of the IRS's policies and procedures on a taxpayer's rights. In addition, the NTA can take on cases because of broader policy concerns tied to them. For some cases, TAS resolves problems by exercising its statutory or delegated authorities. When TAS lacks the requisite authority, it can issue an Operations Assistance Request (OAR) to the IRS office capable of resolving a taxpayer's problem. If TAS and an IRS office cannot agree on a course of action, the former can issue a Taxpayer Assistance Order (TAO) to require the IRS to take or refrain from certain lawful actions by a specified date. To strike a balance between the volume of inquiries TAS receives and its resources, TAS employs an intake strategy intended to provide immediate assistance to taxpayers while looking at their situations for conditions that may warrant the involvement of case advocates. These advocates are authorized to pursue four courses of action: (1) assist taxpayers with self-help options, (2) act to resolve the problems with the IRS, (3) establish a case assuming a taxpayer meets the TAS criteria, and (4) refer the taxpayer to the appropriate IRS office for help. TAS has also managed the low-income taxpayer clinic grant program since 2003. The program provides up to $100,000 in grants to organizations that offer assistance to taxpayers in IRS proceedings and inform non-English speakers about their tax obligations and their rights as taxpayers. History TAS evolved from an IRS taxpayer advocacy program begun in 1977 known as the Problem Resolution Program (PRP). The PRP served two purposes: (1) to give taxpayers another option for addressing problems that were difficult to resolve through IRS's district offices and service centers, and (2) to enable the IRS to identify and correct administrative problems affecting large numbers of taxpayers. PRP assistance was available only to taxpayers who had been referred to the program by an IRS agent who had verified that the taxpayers had tried and failed to get their problems resolved or questions answered through the IRS's regular taxpayer assistance channels. In 1979, the IRS created the Office of the Taxpayer Ombudsman (TO) to manage the PRP; the TO was appointed by and reported to the IRS Commissioner. Although the PRP provided a better pathway for taxpayers to resolve IRS problems and concerns than previous options, some argued that it was not serving as an independent source of taxpayer advocacy within the IRS. To back this claim, critics pointed out that PRP employees located in district and service centers did not report directly to the TO but to their IRS managers instead. To address this concern, Congress passed the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TBOR 1), as part of the Technical and Miscellaneous Revenue Act of 1988 (P.L. 100-647). TBOR 1 codified the TO position in IRC Section 7811 and granted the TO the authority to issue TAOs when the TO determined that a taxpayer was suffering, or about to suffer, a significant hardship because of IRS enforcement actions. Congress replaced the TO with the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate (OTA) when it passed the Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2 (TBOR 2, P.L. 104-168) in 1996. TBOR 2 authorized the OTA to help taxpayers resolve certain

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