WASHINGTON -- Within the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Taxpayer Advocate

Service (TAS) is an independent organization whose mission is to help taxpayers resolve

problems with the IRS. However, TAS can improve the process it uses to identify

potential systemic issues for consideration as Systemic Advocacy Projects, according to a

new report issued publicly today by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax

Administration (TIGTA).

To help fulfill its mission, TAS is required to identify areas in which groups of taxpayers

are experiencing problems with the IRS and recommend solutions. TAS management

primarily relies on IRS employees and its external stakeholders to submit such issues for

consideration as potential Systemic Advocacy Projects. However, TIGTA found that

research TAS performs during the screening process could be improved to better identify

systemic problems affecting multiple taxpayers.

Specifically, TIGTA sampled 25 of the 134 projects TAS closed in Fiscal Year 2009 and

determined that documentation for 13 projects did not support the issue's characterization

as a systemic problem. In addition, TIGTA believes TAS management should use

existing information captured in its Case Advocacy Program, which addresses problems

faced by individual or business taxpayers, to identify potentially systemic issues

warranting further review in a Systemic Advocacy Project. Further, TIGTA believes

current performance measures do not provide management with enough information to

assess whether its Projects have positively benefited tax administration.

"The Taxpayer Advocate Service serves an important mission of identifying solutions

for systemic IRS issues affecting multiple taxpayers," said J. Russell George, Treasury

Inspector General for Tax Administration. "Nonetheless, our report found that

improvements can be made to make it more effective. In particular, improving the

screening process it uses to identify systemic issues will assist TAS management in

identifying and resolving broad-based taxpayer problems, thereby preventing or reducing

similar problems in the future."

TIGTA made three recommendations in its report. TAS management agreed with two,

disagreeing only with one recommendation by arguing that it is already being done.