January 14, 2008
National Taxpayer Advocate Releases Annual Report
The Office of the National Taxpayer Advocate has released its 2007 report to Congress, outlining several recommendations, including:
- Create a process to update Congress on the impact of last-minute tax changes (referring in part to the late-year AMT patch, which has delayed the production of AMT deduction forms until February)
- Enact a taxpayer "bill of rights" outlining rights and obligations of U.S. taxpayers
- Authorize the National Taxpayer Advocate "to compensate taxpayers where the action or inaction of the IRS has caused excessive expense or undue burden to the taxpayer...." Such payments would be nominal (a maximum of $1,000) and tax-free.
- Reduce compliance burdens on small charities
- Repeal a rule that prohibits the IRS from referring taxpayers to Low Income Taxpayer Clinics to assist in cases
Click here to read the full report, which includes the top thirty problems encountered by taxpayers, and a full list of legislative recommendations.
The National Taxpayer Advocate is currently Nina Olson, who was honored with the Tax Foundation Public Sector Distinguished Service Award this past November (picture here). See also this Tax Foundation Podcast with Nina Olson, discussing what can be done to reduce tax compliance burdens.
