Taxpayer Advocate

Through the new IRS Virtual Service Delivery (VSD) pilot program, TAS can now offer face-to-face assistance through two-way video conferencing to qualifying taxpayers in the Tampa, FL area. The IRS is conducting a limited roll-out of this program at 10 IRS offices and two other sites, and may expand to further sites in the future. Visit the Virtual Tax Help page on the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) Tax Toolkit for more information.  

 

National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson explores the impact of correspondence examinations (or audits) on taxpayer rights in a new blog post on the National Taxpayer Advocate’s Blog.

Updated information about several different tax credits has been added to the Education Tax Benefits, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and Health Care Tax Credit pages of the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) Tax Toolkit. Updates reflect information important to the 2011 tax filing season.   

 

National Taxpayer Advocate (NTA) Nina Olson explores the difference between “real” and “unreal” IRS audits in a new blog post. Don’t forget to subscribe for RSS updates from the NTA’s blog!

Information about Tax Day 2012 has been added to the home page of the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) Tax Toolkit. In addition, links to useful tax filing resources have been added to the Individuals, Get Tax Help, Businesses and Tax Professionals pages.

National Taxpayer Advocate (NTA) Nina E. Olson released her annual report to Congress on Jan. 11, 2012, identifying the combination of the IRS’s expanding workload and declining resources as the most serious problem facing taxpayers. The result, the report says, is inadequate taxpayer service, erosion of taxpayer rights, and reduced tax compliance, especially in light of the increased diversity of the taxpayer population. To coincide with the release of the report, the NTA launched a new blog on taxpayer rights. Read more on the 2011 Annual Report to Congress page on the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) Tax Toolkit. 

Updated information about the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for Tax Year 2011 has been added to the Earned Income Tax Credit and Family Credit page of the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) Tax Toolkit. Updated information is also available about the Adoption Credit for Tax Year 2011 on the Adoption Credit page. In addition, new information about Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) renewals in 2012 has been added to the Renewing or Applying for a PTIN page.

New information for individual taxpayers and tax professionals about the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) has been added to the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) Tax Toolkit. EITC is a credit for people who earn low-to-moderate incomes. Eligibility is based on several factors, including the amount and type of earned income, combined income if married and amount of qualifying children. Learn if you qualify for EITC.

On May 12, 2011, because of a lawsuit filed by the California state attorney general, Roni Lynn Deutch announced that Roni Deutch, A Professional Tax Corporation (i.e., the Roni Deutch law firm) was closing. The court appointed a receiver to wind down the firm's affairs. If you are a former client of this firm and are facing tax problems, the Taxpayer Advocate Service may be able to help. More information is available on the Success Stories page of the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) Tax Toolkit. 

In addition, the IRS is beginning the next phase of its effort to increase oversight of the tax preparation industry by launching the new Registered Tax Return Preparer Competency Test. More information is available on the Registered Tax Return Preparer Test page of the TAS Tax Toolkit. 

Information about the Taxpayer Rights Corner, your one-stop shop for taxpayer rights information during every step of your interaction with the IRS, has been added to the home page of the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) Tax Toolkit. 

The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP) recently released its 2010 Annual Report, which summarizes its accomplishments in 2010, including 101 new recommendations and 34 completed projects the panel provided to the IRS. TAP is a Federal Advisory Committee that makes recommendations to the IRS and the National Taxpayer Advocate. More information is available on TAP’s website, www.improveirs.org, or the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel page of the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) Tax Toolkit.

In addition, the IRS announced recently that the nation’s 738,000 tax return preparers who have Preparer Tax Identification Numbers (PTINs) can now renew their PTINs for the 2012 filing season. The IRS also issued guidance to implement further return preparer oversight. More information is available on the Renewing or Applying for a PTIN page of the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) Tax Toolkit.

Information in Spanish has been added to the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) Tax Toolkit. The new Spanish pages include Acerca de TAS (About TAS), Información Tributaria Básica (Basic Tax Information) and Preguntas Frecuentes (Frequently Asked Questions). You can access the new pages from the ¡Bienvenido! page on the TAS Tax Toolkit.
 

Tax seminars from the 2011 IRS Nationwide Tax Forums are now available for download on the IRS Nationwide Tax Forums Online. Two seminars are available from the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS), including “Advocating for Your Client in Innocent Spouse Cases” and “Small Business Health Care Tax Credit.” The seminars may be taken by tax professionals for either continuing professional education credit or audit. More information is available on the TAS at the IRS Nationwide Tax Forums page on the TAS Tax Toolkit.
 

The IRS recently provided additional clarification for tax return preparers about when to renew their preparer tax identification numbers (PTINs), how suitability testing will be conducted and when the continuing education requirement will begin. More information is available on the Tax Preparer Regulation page the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) Tax Toolkit.

The Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) is temporarily limiting its acceptance of cases when the taxpayer’s problem solely involves an IRS delay in processing certain tax documents, beginning October 1. More information about this change is available on pages for Individuals and Tax Professionals on the TAS Tax Toolkit.

Information about the Virtual Small Business Tax Workshop has been added to the home page of the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) Tax Toolkit. The workshop is composed of nine interactive lessons designed to help new small business owners learn their tax rights and responsibilities.
 

New videos are available that provide basic information regarding IRS collection efforts. View the video series “Owe Taxes? Understanding IRS Collection Efforts.” Additional tax videos are available on www.irsvideos.gov. For more tax information, visit the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) Tax Toolkit.

As part of its ongoing effort to enhance oversight of the tax preparer industry, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released the specifications for the Registered Tax Return Preparer Test on September 6, 2011. Find out more on the Registered Tax Return Preparer Test page of the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) Tax Toolkit. In addition, the IRS is reminding small businesses, small non-profit organizations and professional service providers that there is still time to claim the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit. More information is available on the Health Care Tax Credit page.

National Taxpayer Advocate (NTA) Nina E. Olson is one of five new members appointed to the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS). The Conference is an independent, federal agency dedicated to improving the administrative process through consensus-driven applied research, providing nonpartisan expert advice and recommendations for improvement of federal agency procedure. Learn more about the NTA’s recent appointment.

The IRS is presenting a live webinar, “Learn about the IRS Fresh Start Initiative – Help for Struggling Taxpayers,” on Aug. 31, 2011, at 2 p.m. ET. Learn more and register.