WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley will join National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson for a public forum in Iowa to discuss what taxpayers want and need from the IRS to comply with their tax obligations.
The public forum will be held Thursday, May 5, at 8:30 a.m. Central at the Montgomery County Family YMCA, 101 E Cherry St, Red Oak. Members of the public and the media are invited to attend.
“The National Taxpayer Advocate is the taxpayer’s liaison to the IRS,” Grassley said. “I encourage as many Iowans and Nebraskans as possible to attend this forum and express views about what the IRS should do to help taxpayers meet their tax obligations.”
Grassley has a long record of increasing taxpayer rights, services and accountability at the IRS. He served on the bipartisan National Commission on Restructuring the IRS, which completed a yearlong audit of the IRS and released its final report in 1997. The report was the basis of the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, which mandated Local Taxpayer Advocates in every state. Grassley is former chairman and currently a senior member of the Finance Committee, with exclusive Senate jurisdiction over the IRS. The committee just passed additional reforms Grassley drafted to promote taxpayer rights.
From the National Taxpayer Advocate:
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, Olson expressed concerns about whether the IRS’s “Future State” plan adequately addresses taxpayer needs. 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.
The forum will feature an invited panel of representatives from the small business and local taxpayer communities, including:
· Varel Bailey (President | Bailey Farms, Inc. | Anita, IA)
· Tamara Borland (Director | Low Income Taxpayer Clinic, Iowa Legal Aid | Des Moines, IA)
· Alvin LaMar (Enrolled Agent | Iowa Farm Business Association | Iowa Falls, IA)
· Kristy Maitre (Tax Specialist | Agricultural Education & Studies, Iowa State University | Ames, IA)
· Wendy Smith (VITA Program Coordinator | United Way of Wapello County | Ottumwa, IA)
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.
-30-
