Tax Administration: IRS' Implementation of the 1988 Taxpayer Bill of Rights
GGD-92-23
Published: Dec 10, 1991. Publicly Released: Dec 10, 1991.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) implementation of the 1988 Taxpayer Bill of Rights, focusing on opportunities to further enhance IRS administration of the act.
Recommendations
Matter for Congressional Consideration
| Matter | Status | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Congress may wish to consider clarifying the Internal Revenue Code to specifically provide IRS authority to withdraw a notice of a lien when it is in the best interests of the taxpayer and the government. | Congress recently passed Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2, which was signed into law by the President on July 30, 1996. This legislation includes Section 501, which allows IRS to withdraw a notice of lien. | |
| In light of the uncertainty over whether taxpayers should be given 21 days to correct an erroneous levy under section 6332(c) of the Internal Revenue Code, Congress may wish to consider clarifying this issue. | This recommendation was not included in Public Law 104-168, "Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2," which was approved on July 30, 1996. It is GAO's understanding that no action is expected on this issue in the near future. |
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Internal Revenue Service | To improve implementation of the 1988 Taxpayer Bill of Rights, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should develop testing procedures to determine whether IRS employees successfully recognize taxpayer hardship situations and, when hardships exist, initiate applications for assistance on the taxpayer's behalf. If the tests show that employees are having difficulty accomplishing this task, IRS should provide corrective training and/or additional aids. Finally, employee testing should be continuous in order to pinpoint future problem areas and to provide a baseline against which to measure progress. |
IRS issued 15 examples of Taxpayer Assistance Orders to the regional diagnostic centers as additional aids to supplement the initial training. Employee testing is ongoing and the October 1991 to August 1992 period showed improvements. Monitoring and training will continue as warranted.
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| Internal Revenue Service | To improve implementation of the 1988 Taxpayer Bill of Rights, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should emphasize the importance of reading Publication 1 when contacting taxpayers by telephone or through correspondence before taxpayers have an audit interview. |
IRS revised the audit notification letters to include the following words, "Enclosed please find publication 1, Your Rights as a Taxpayer. This publication advises you of your rights under the examination process. Please read this publication. Address any questions you may have to the examining office at or before the interview". The action was completed on March 12, 1993.
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| Internal Revenue Service | To improve implementation of the 1988 Taxpayer Bill of Rights, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should develop standard procedures for district offices to use when advising taxpayers that their installment agreements are subject to cancellation. This action should help resolve the problem of inconsistent treatment of taxpayers when their installment agreements are monitored by service centers or by district offices. |
IRS has developed and incorporated into the Internal Revenue Manual procedures designed to ensure consistent treatment of taxpayers regardless of whether installment agreements are being monitored by IRS district offices or service centers.
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