{"id":57970,"date":"2019-02-24t17:56:23","date_gmt":"2019-02-24t22:56:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/48e130086c.nxcli.net\/?p=57970"},"modified":"2019-02-26t14:42:37","modified_gmt":"2019-02-26t19:42:37","slug":"taxpayer-advocate-slams-congress-over-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/2019\/02\/24\/taxpayer-advocate-slams-congress-over-funding\/","title":{"rendered":"taxpayer advocate slams congress over funding"},"content":{"rendered":"
“shortcuts\u2019 have become the norm.”<\/strong><\/p>\n special to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间<\/em><\/p>\n national taxpayer advocate nina e. olson has slammed congress hard in the taxpayer advocate service annual report 2017. after a series of irs budget cuts over the last several years, olson says she sees the daily consequences of reduced funding and the choices made by the agency in the face of funding constraints.<\/p>\n more:<\/b>\u00a0busy season: accountants worry for u.s. economy<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0tax shops bulk up for big busy season<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0busy season: the busiest ever?<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0survey: tax season launches with a whimper<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a016 big questions for tax season<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0survey: tax accountants alarmed by tcja & shutdown<\/a><\/p>\n exclusively for pro members.\u00a0<\/strong>log in here<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a02022世界杯足球排名 today<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cfunding cuts have rendered the irs unable to provide acceptable levels of taxpayer service, unable to upgrade its technology\u2026and unable to maintain compliance programs that both promote and protect taxpayer rights,\u201d olson said in her preface to the annual report. \u201c\u2018shortcuts\u2019 have become the norm, and \u2018shortcuts\u2019 are incompatible with high-quality tax administration.\u201d<\/p>\n one of the shortcuts is simply not answering the phone\u2014not by policy but by sheer lack of personnel. the irs foresees answering only 60 percent of calls during the 2018 filing season, and then the odds of getting through to a living being turn even worse. for the year as a whole, only four out of ten phone calls will reach an irs agent in 2018.<\/p>\n no law questions after april 17.<\/p>\n since 2014, the irs has only answered \u201cbasic\u201d tax-law questions during the filing season\u2026and no<\/em> tax-law questions\u2014by phone or in person\u2014after april 17 even though more than 15 million taxpayers file later in the year. in the absence of assistance on the phone or at a taxpayer assistance center, filers have to search through 140,000 irs web pages. the uk.s. tax code is 2,600 pages long, not including over 65,000 pages of regulations, revenue rulings, and annotated case law.<\/p>\n but wait! that\u2019s not all! a 2016-17 tas survey found that 41 million taxpayers had no broadband access at home, and 14 million had no access at all. and of those who try to create online accounts, only about 30 percent succeed in doing so.<\/p>\n the report doesn\u2019t say so, but the underfunding of the irs creates an opportunity for tax professionals who are willing to help taxpayers wend their way through a labyrinth of rules and regulations. but the journey will not be without its headaches, complaints, bad trepidations.<\/p>\n the irs has a competitor<\/strong><\/p>\n the report warns that in the private sector if a customer doesn\u2019t like the service at one company, it can take its business to a competitor. the irs, of course, is the only federal tax collector in town, but that doesn\u2019t mean it doesn\u2019t have a competitor\u2014the tempting option of noncompliance.<\/p>\n \u201cyes, taxpayers know there may be consequences for blatant noncompliance, but if and when the opportunity presents itself for a taxpayer not to comply in subtle ways that are hard to detect (e.g., <\/em>reporting cash-economy income), the taxpayer may be more likely to take the opportunity, because there is no \u2018brand loyalty\u2019 to the irs and tax compliance,\u201d the preface states. \u201csimply put, the irs hasn\u2019t earned taxpayer loyalty.\u201d<\/p>\n the annual report offers solutions. it identifies the 21 most serious problems affecting taxpayers, and it makes 11 recommendations for corrective legislation. it also discusses the ten most litigated issues and stand-alone decisions. a second volume contains seven research studies.<\/p>\n the purple book<\/strong><\/p>\n new this year from the tas is a publication known as the purple book. designed to help the house ways and means committee pass \u201cirs reform,\u201d the book summarizes 50 legislative recommendation to strengthen taxpayer rights and improve tax administration.<\/p>\n olson\u2019s frustration is palpable throughout the preface. she sees the irs swamped with problems and inadequacies.<\/p>\n \u201cin my opinion, the discussion about irs funding has largely proceeded based on false choices\u2014either \u2018you can\u2019t trust the irs to administer the tax system so don\u2019t fund it\u2019 or \u2018because the irs doesn\u2019t have enough funding, it can\u2019t do the things it needs to do to administer the tax system.\u2019 the truth lies somewhere in between. the irs absolutely needs more funding.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" “shortcuts\u2019 have become the norm.”<\/strong><\/p>\n special to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":12741,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,2269,3120,3002,1906,2246],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-outlook","category-politics","category-pro-member-exclusive","category-special","category-tax-practice","category-busy-season"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n