Lawmakers scold IRS for moving to close assistance centers

House lawmakers last week criticized the Internal Revenue Service for moving ahead with plans to shut down 68 taxpayer assistance centers, despite appropriations bill language that indicates substantial opposition to the closures.

In a July 12 letter to IRS Commissioner Mark Everson, a group of 70 lamakers said they were "surprised to learn" that the agency had delivered a reduction-in-force notice to the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents the roughly 430 employees who could lose jobs when the centers close, on the same day that a House appropriations subcommittee voted to restrict funding for the shutdowns.

The House included the language, which would require the IRS to hold off on the closures until the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has a chance to assess their possible impact on taxpayer compliance, in its version of the fiscal 2006 Transportation-Treasury appropriations bill (H.R. 3058). The Senate appropriations subcommittee on Transportation and Treasury plans to take up the bill Tuesday.

By moving ahead on the closures, announced in May and scheduled for this fall, IRS would "be in direct conflict with Congress' intent to stop this plan until we receive more information," the letter, signed by 69 Democrats and one independent, stated. "Congress must be assured that closing these centers will not have an adverse impact on our constituents who want to comply with the tax laws but need assistance."

The lawmakers asked Everson to assure them that the closings would be suspended until further research is completed, and asked that he send an "immediate" response to their letter.

IRS spokeswoman Nancy Mathis on Monday declined to say whether the agency still plans to close the assistance centers this fall. The agency does not comment on correspondence with Congress, she said.

Employees at taxpayer assistance centers provide in-person help interpreting tax laws. The assistance workers also can prepare returns for taxpayers who earn less than $36,000 a year or qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit. But demand for services is falling as more people file returns electronically and turn to the agency's Web site or toll-free helpline for guidance, according to IRS statistics.

IRS officials have said that the shutdowns would help meet the goal of maintaining service levels while keeping costs to a minimum. The move would allow the IRS to devote more resources toward enforcement of tax laws, agency officials have noted.

But the House lawmakers argued that the closures could well hurt taxpayer compliance rates. Tax laws are getting more complicated, and "filing an accurate tax return with the IRS is becoming more time consuming and difficult," their letter stated. The typical family is spending eight hours and 15 minutes longer filling out forms than it did in 1994, they said.

The national taxpayer advocate, Nina Olson, head of the independent organization within the IRS that helps resolve disputes between taxpayers and the agency, has expressed similar reservations about the IRS' plans. "Rather than looking for ways to reduce services and assuming no impact to compliance as a result of these service reductions, we should be studying what factors make it easier or more difficult for taxpayers to comply and what services compliant taxpayers require in order to remain compliant," she stated in a June report to Congress, outlining her goals for the coming fiscal year.

Further, IRS officials must be sure to consult with taxpayers and other interested parties before making decisions. The assistance center closure plan exemplifies a "failure to listen to and discuss concerns of the National Taxpayer Advocate, along with numerous taxpayer and congressional stakeholders, can lead to virtually universal opposition to proposals that might, if properly researched and reasoned, gain greater acceptance," Olson noted.

NTEU President Colleen Kelley on Monday praised the House Democrats' effort to hold the IRS to the appropriations bill language. The closures would "have a disproportionate and severe impact on groups least likely to be able to compensate effectively for the loss of such help," she argued. For example, the shutdowns would hurt taxpayers lacking access to the Internet, taxpayers not fluent in English, elderly taxpayers and low-income taxpayers, she said in a statement.