The summer heat outside may be stifling, but inside the Case Resolution Program at the IRS Nationwide Tax Forums, dedicated IRS employees are keeping their cool and producing truly excellent results. The Case Resolution Program, a highlight of the annual Nationwide Tax Forums for many tax professionals, allows practitioners to bring their “toughest cases” to be worked onsite.  Taxpayer Advocate Service coordinates the cross-functional program and provides staff to support the program, alongside other IRS functions, such as Wage & Investment and Small Business/Self Employed.

It’s not just the assistors onsite working to help the practitioners attending the forums. There are designated employees available throughout the country by phone to help assistors resolve the cases. The on-call assistors include representatives from many IRS functions, as well as TAS technical advisors.

The philosophy of those working in the Case Resolution Program is simple – look at each case with an eye toward advocacy and if there is a way to help the taxpayer, let’s do it. With that philosophy and hard work, 238 practitioners received help with their toughest cases in Chicago and New Orleans.

If you are a practitioner who needs continuing education credits and have a case, you need assistance with, plan to attend one of the remaining tax forums.  Be sure to bring your Power of Attorney and any documents to the Case Resolution Program, to resolve your toughest case.

Check out where the nearest IRS Nationwide Tax Forums is this summer. 

Today the National Taxpayer Advocate released her FY 2017 Objectives Report to Congress, identifying the priority issues that she and TAS will address during fiscal year 2017.

For the last two years, the IRS has been developing a “Future State” plan that envisions how the agency will operate in five years and beyond.  In the National Taxpayer Advocate’s 2015 Annual Report to Congress, the NTA praised aspects of the plan but expressed concern that (i) the IRS’s intent in developing online accounts is largely to save money in light of recent budget cuts by reducing telephone and face-to-face assistance and (ii) many taxpayers will not conduct business with the IRS through online accounts because they lack internet access or skills, cannot complete the authentication process required to set up an account, do not trust the security of the IRS system, or would prefer to speak with an IRS employee.  As a result, she expressed concern that critical taxpayer needs may go unmet under the Future State plan.

To provide a vehicle for direct public comment, the NTA held Public Forums around the country, eight thus far with more scheduled for this Fall.  Some were held in conjunction with Members of Congress who serve on committees actively engaged in IRS oversight.  At each of the Public Forums, she heard from a panel of representatives of the communities she visited.  Most panels included a representative from a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) site and a Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC); an attorney, Certified Public Accountant, or Enrolled Agent active in representing individuals and small businesses; and witnesses who focused on challenges faced by particular taxpayer groups, including English as a Second Language (ESL) and immigrant taxpayers, elderly taxpayers, farmers, U.S. taxpayers living abroad, disabled taxpayers, victims of identity theft, and small businesses victimized by payroll service provider fraud.

The report contains extended excerpts from the comments of taxpayers, practitioners and panelists who spoke at the Public Forums, organized around key concerns that the NTA identified in her earlier report or that taxpayers and panelists consistently raised throughout the Public Forums.

The National Taxpayer Advocate writes:

“Although the National Taxpayer Advocate has been charged by Congress to be the voice of the taxpayer inside the IRS, what we heard at the Public Forums around the country were the voices of real taxpayers and their real representatives. They are compelling, articulate, and clear about what they need in order to comply with the tax laws.”

These comments are organized around several of the concerns about the IRS Future State plans that were identified in the 2015 Annual Report or consistently arose in the Public Forums. They are:

• IRS engagement with taxpayers and practitioners and how to increase trust in the tax agency (page 4)
• Building a Future State before the IRS current state of taxpayer service is fixed (page 8)
• The taxpayer experience as told by taxpayers (page 16)
• The continuing trend away from person-to-person and face-to-face taxpayer service and compliance activities, including audit, collection, and appeals, as well as a declining geographic IRS presence and increased centralization (page 19)
• The benefits and limitations of online accounts (page 24)
• Doing digital right (page 32)
• The lack of clarity around what will be offered as self-service online options, and the legal and due process implications of “self-corrections” (page 37)
• The implications of online accounts for taxpayers with limited online access or digital expertise, and the impact of security concerns on taxpayer online account usage (page 41)
• The implications of granting access to taxpayers’ online accounts to unregulated return preparers (page 45)
• The increasing workload for VITA sites and the compression of the filing season for professional tax preparers (page 47)
• The IRS Mission — what should the IRS be focusing on in the 21st century (page 49)

The report also provides an assessment of the 2016 filing season.  The NTA notes the increase in calls answered by the IRS and reduction in wait times for taxpayers calling the IRS.  The National Taxpayer Advocate attributes this improvement both to additional funding by Congress and the effective use of the funding by the IRS.  However, the report notes that IRS funding remains almost 20 percent lower now than in FY 2010 accounting for inflation, requiring the IRS to limit or eliminate important services for taxpayers.

In addition to the IRS Future State plan, the report identifies and discusses other priority issues the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate plans to focus on during this upcoming fiscal year.  Among them are the following: FATCA Burden, Private Debt Collection Implementation, IRS Levies on Retirement Accounts, Online Taxpayer Accounts, EITC Compliance, and Identity Theft Victim Assistance Procedures.

The full Objectives Report explores these and other issues that the National Taxpayer Advocate intends to address in the coming year.

Full Public Forum Transcripts are available at www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/news/national-taxpayer-advocate-public-forum-transcripts.

Volume Two of the report will contains the IRS’s responses to the administrative recommendations the National Taxpayer Advocate made in her 2015 Annual Report to Congress, along with additional TAS comments. It will be released in late July 2016.

While you may be tempted to forget about taxes at the end of the filing season, there is still time to receive the benefits of many tax credits.

When you applied for assistance to help pay the insurance premiums for 2016 health coverage through the Marketplace, the Marketplace estimated the amount of your Premium Tax Credit (PTC). But life changes between then and when you go to file your tax return next year can create changes to that income estimation, which will affect the final PTC you are eligible to claim on your return.

Life changes such as having a baby, adopting a child, getting a new job or losing one, moving to a different address, receiving a monetary award or other increases or decreases in income, among other changes, can all affect your actual total income come tax time.

Receiving lump sum payments such as Social Security Disability Insurance or even taking out a lump sum from your retirement account can have a major impact on your PTC eligibility. When you file your federal income tax return, the IRS will either subtract the difference between those advanced payments of PTC paid on your behalf and the actual PTC you are eligible for from your refund or add it to your taxes owed.

Doing a PTC check-up now will help you avoid large differences between the advance credit payments made on your behalf and the amount of the PTC you are allowed when you file your tax return next year.

Our Taxpayer Advocate Premium Tax Credit Change Estimator can help you estimate how your PTC will change if your income or family size changes during the year. However, the PTC estimator does not report changes in circumstances to your Marketplace, so be sure to also report any changes directly to your Health Insurance Marketplace and adjust the amount of your advance payments of the premium tax credit at the same time.

For more related information, see our article titled, Premium Tax Credit: 3 ways to reduce the chance of owing taxes, or see the Claiming the Credit and Reconciling Advance Credit Payments page, or File Now: Don’t Jeopardize Your Advance Payments of the Premium Tax Credit if you haven’t filed yet on IRS.gov/aca.

National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson and U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci (OH-16), a member of the House Ways & Means Committee, will hold a public forum to discuss what taxpayers want and need from the IRS to comply with their tax obligations. Rep. Renacci is also a member of House Budget Committee.

The public forum will be held Tuesday, August 16, at 5:30 pm at the Parma Branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library in Parma, OH. Members of the public and the media are invited to attend.

Building on initiatives already implemented, the IRS for the past two years has been developing a “Future State” plan that envisions how it will operate in five years and beyond. It is continuing to develop a path for how it gets from its “Current State” to the “Future State,” including refinements to the vision along the way. A central component of the plan is the creation of online taxpayer accounts as a convenient but non-exclusive channel through which taxpayers will be able to obtain information from and interact with the IRS. 

In the National Taxpayer Advocate’s 2015 Annual Report to Congress, Ms. Olson expressed concerns about whether the IRS’s “Future State” plan adequately addresses taxpayer needs. She recommended the IRS solicit comments from taxpayers and tax professionals regarding the “Future State” plan, including their thoughts on the extent to which taxpayers will continue to need telephone and in-person assistance. To further public awareness and dialogue, she announced plans to hold a series of public forums around the country. The objective of the public forums is to ensure the “Future State” plan will better reflect the needs and preferences of U.S. taxpayers as they seek to comply with the tax code.

In the National Taxpayer Advocate’s FY 2017 Objectives Report to Congress, Ms. Olson highlighted notable observations and suggestions shared by panelists at public forums held earlier this year.  She wrote: “Although the National Taxpayer Advocate has been charged by Congress to be the voice of the taxpayer inside the IRS, what we heard at the Public Forums around the country were the voices of real taxpayers and their real representatives. They are compelling, articulate, and clear about what they need in order to comply with the tax laws.”

The August 16 public forum will feature an invited panel of representatives from the small business and local taxpayer communities, including the following:

• Jim Renacci (U.S. House of Representatives | 16th District | Cleveland, OH)
• Dana Goldstein (Low Income Taxpayer Clinic Director | Community Legal Aid | Akron, OH)
• Kathy Matthews (Program Director |  Enterprise Community Partners, Inc. | Cleveland, OH)
• Ilias Tsakalis (Owner | North Hill Donuts | Akron, OH)
• Member of the Amish community (Old Order Amish Steering Committee | Dalton, OH)
• Matt Yuskewich (Chair, Ohio Society of CPAs Federal Tax Legislation Policy Committee | Winterset CPA Group, Inc. | Columbus, OH)

Members of the public will also have an opportunity to speak.

Local Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) staff will be available to talk with attendees about unresolved tax issues and help determine if their situation qualifies for TAS assistance. TAS generally is unable to assist taxpayers with return preparation questions, but can provide assistance to taxpayers who have already filed their returns with the IRS for the current or past years and are experiencing problems that meet its case-acceptance criteria.

More about the Forum:

• Speaker Biographies
• Meeting Agenda
• Read the full press release
• Read more about the forums

Comments regarding the Future State of the IRS may be submitted by email. Please do not send account-related questions to this email address.

National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson and Rep. Xavier Becerra, a senior member of the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Ranking Member of its Subcommittee on Social Security, held a public forum to discuss what taxpayers want and need from the IRS to comply with their tax obligations.

The forum, held at the Boyle Heights City Hall, drew nearly 100 participants from the greater Los Angeles area.  Representative Becerra addressed the audience about his concerns with identity theft issues and ongoing IRS phone scams before turning the event over to National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson.  The panel discussion highlighted concerns with online account access envisioned by the IRS Future State plan in light of the increasing issues with identity theft.  California State Advocate Susan Maples shared her experience with launching online account access for California residents and the need to balance between reducing burden on taxpayers and protecting their personal information.

Several of the panelists submitted written statements:

• Audrey Casillas, Economic Development Specialist
  Koreatown Youth and Community Center
  • Statement
• Isai Cortez, Director, Pepperdine Low Income Taxpayer Clinic
  Pepperdine University School of Law
  • Statement
• Robert S. Horwitz, Chair, Taxation Section, State Bar of California
  Hochman Salkin Rettig Toscher & Perez PC
  • Statement
• Susan Maples, Taxpayers’ Rights Advocate
  California State Franchise Tax Board
  • Statement
• Nancy Remo, Enrolled Agent, Representing National Association of Enrolled Agents
  ANR Tax Group
  • Statement

More about the forum:

• Speaker Biographies
• Meeting Agenda
• Read the full press release

Read more about the forums

Comments regarding the Future State of the IRS may be submitted by email. Please do not send account-related questions to this email address.