Access to IRS, Problem
Resolution Process
To Improve, According
to IRS Officials
As part of its new approach
to taxpayer education
and compliance, the Internal
Revenue Service is now
placing great emphasis
on the “relationship
management piece,”
an IRS official told participants
at the American Society
for Payroll Management’s
annual conference in La
Quinta, Calif., near Palm
Beach. Bobby Hunt, the
director for taxpayer
education and compliance
(TEC) for the Small Business
and Self Employed (SBSE)
division of IRS, said
that forming relationships
with and listening to
taxpayers is “very,
very important,”
and can take place on
a number of levels.
Contact
Opportunities for Large
Remitters, Filers
Nancy Sieger, modernization
officer for Customer Accounts
Services in the SBSE division,
announced that a “special
coordinator’s group”
has assumed responsibility
of working with bulk payment
providers—those
remitters who have payment
problems impacting 100
or more accounts. The
coordinator’s group
is based in Brookhaven,
Mass., and bulk filers
with 100 or more accounts
can contact the group
directly for problem resolution
purposes at (631) 687-1685,
she said.
In addition, Sieger said
a “practitioner
priority services”
(PPS) group has instituted
a toll-free number for
practitioners and reporting
agents—even for
those representatives
of taxpayers who do not
have a power of attorney.
It is hoped that this
would be the first contact
IRS has with practitioners
to resolve problems, she
noted. The toll free number
is: 866-860-4259, and
is available from 7:30
a.m. through 5:30 p.m,
regardless of time zone.
Sieger announced that
a suite of new electronic
services also will be
unveiled over the next
few months that will make
it easier to:
- apply for employer
identification numbers,
- request to become
a reporting agent, and
- receive transcripts
of tax interactions
and filings.
She also said the “XML”
version for filing Form
940 electronically with
IRS will be released Jan.
6. Current bulk processors
that file using other
means will be allowed
to continue their current
method through December
2003, Sieger said.
TEC
to Review Form 941
For the next year, the
group that deals with
taxpayer education and
compliance (TEC) for (SPSE),
according to its director
Bobby Hunt, will focus
on:
- reviewing Forms 941and
K-1 for changes needed;
- increasing “e-submissions”
both for remittances
and filings;
- voluntary reporting
agreements, especially
with regard to tip reporting;
- clamping down on
“abusive tax schemes;”
and
- refining and improving
the customer service
interaction.
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