Who Can Use Taxpayer Advocate Service?

posted on October 11, 2012 by | Comments Off on Who Can Use Taxpayer Advocate Service?

The Taxpayer Advocate Service (“TAS”), an independent office of the Internal Revenue Service, was formed to help taxpayers resolve problems with the IRS. TAS consists of approximately 2,000 employees; about 1,400 of these are Case Advocates who personally assist taxpayers. But according to a recent TAS notice, “…we can’t possibly help all six million to 12 million taxpayers who may be having problems at any given time.”

TAS decided it should focus on cases where they can add the most value. They will accept cases that generally fall into any one of 4 types of categories:

  1. A taxpayer who is facing some financial difficulty, or emergency, or hardship, and needs the IRS to move faster than normal. For example, the IRS may need to remove a levy or release a lien to prevent a taxpayer from facing financial harm.
  2. Many different IRS units are involved, and a taxpayer needs TAS to coordinate all departments toward resolution.
  3. A taxpayer has tried to resolve a problem through normal IRS procedures, but the system has broken down and there is nowhere else to turn.
  4. The IRS is applying a general approach and isn’t recognizing a taxpayer’s unique facts or issues.

In 2011, TAS decided it would no longer accept case types that, in their view, the IRS will eventually get to the right answer for the taxpayer. The types of issues no longer accepted for TAS help include processing of:

  • Original tax returns
  • Amended tax returns
  • Rejected and unpostable tax returns, and
  • Injured (not innocent) spouse returns, for example a claim for relief from application of a refund on a joint return to the other spouse’s past-due tax.

In June 2012, TAS tried to better clarify case exceptions they will indeed accept. These include:

  • Where the taxpayer is suffering an economic burden. TAS provides two examples of what they will, or will not, accept.
    •  In the first example the taxpayer has been waiting over 4 months on a current year1040X refund. TAS will not open a case.
    • In the second example, the taxpayer has more than one issue. It is the same circumstance as above, AND the taxpayer is receiving collection notices for a prior year uncollected balance. TAS will open a case because the tax refund will also resolve a collection issue.
  • If the taxpayer is referred by a congressional office. TAS provides no example for this.
  • Where “the taxpayer specifically requests and insists”. Again, TAS provides no example for this.

Dealing with the IRS can be exasperating at best. Gary Kaplan is authorized to represent clients before the IRS and act on a taxpayer’s behalf. Call him if you are having trouble resolving any tax issues.