The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP) is a citizens' group comprised of some 100 volunteer members from across the United States. The members are appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury and the group's mission is to "listen to taxpayers, identify taxpayer issues, and make recommendations for improving IRS service and customer satisfaction." The panel members serve in one of seven geographic regions, or areas, across the country with each state having at least one representative and the larger states having multiple representatives. I represent Maine in Area One, which is comprised of the New England states and New York. The recruitment process is very comprehensive and is designed to attract a diverse group of applicants in order to ensure appropriate representation from the various taxpayer perspectives when evaluating service delivery issues within the Internal Revenue Service. Because the process is so comprehensive, and with the various levels of approvals, security, background and tax checks required, it can take up to seven months from the start of recruitment to the formal appointment of candidates.
Each Taxpayer Advocacy Panel member is expected to develop potential issues that can be evaluated, discussed and ultimately forwarded through internal channels to the Internal Revenue Service along with an appropriate recommendation for improvement. Potential issues are typically identified through outreach activities such as speaking to organized groups, informal groups and individuals. Outreach is a key component of TAP activities as individuals and businesses cannot take advantage of the opportunity to address issues of concern to them if they are not aware of the TAP and its mission to improve IRS service and customer satisfaction. Most of the people that I speak with are not familiar with the TAP but are pleasantly surprised when they learn of the opportunity that they have. That is, of course, once their breathing returns to normal after the very mention of the Internal Revenue Service.
Each TAP member also serves on an "Issue Committee" that works with senior personnel in the various business units of the IRS to assist them in making improvements to the services offered in the units. Examples of these Issue Committees are Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA), Small Business/Self-Employed Taxpayer Burden Reduction, Earned Income Tax Credit, Taxpayer Assistance Centers (TAC), Forms and Publications and Communications. Each of the Issue Committees is designed to work with IRS personnel to improve and enhance the service delivery of the business unit and to constantly strive to improve customer satisfaction.
The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel, although only a few years old, has made significant progress in working with the Internal Revenue Service to improve services and customer satisfaction. Each year, a significant number of recommendations are submitted to the IRS and many of these recommendations are approved and implemented, in whole or in part. Additionally, the TAP is often called upon by various divisions of the IRS to provide input and to participate in discussion panels with high level executives. The TAP is also frequently mentioned by the National Taxpayer Advocate (NTA), Nina Olson. Olson heads the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) and also has oversight responsibility for the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel. The NTA is required, by federal law, to issue two reports to Congress each year. The first report addresses the annual objectives of the TAS and the second report discusses the top 20 problems that taxpayers face in dealing with the IRS and makes administrative and legislative recommendations to protect taxpayers.
I was appointed to the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel last December and attended the annual conference in Washington, D.C. During the conference I had the occasion to listen to, and speak with, the acting director of the IRS along with various senior level executives. I was impressed with their commitment to improving the services provided to taxpayers and their solicitation for assistance in their efforts. I was also struck by the opportunity that membership on the TAP creates. It is not often that one has the opportunity to effect positive change on such a large scale and to work on improving a system that can potentially affect every citizen in the United States. In a future article I will outline some of the issues that the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is working on and some of the improvements that have been made based on TAP recommendations.
In the meantime, I would like to hear from you about any general issues or particular problems that you have experienced. Please email me at ryandowtap@charter.net and I will get back in touch with you. Thank you.
