Keeping the IRS in Check

By Michelle Singletary
Thursday, August 21, 2008

Nina E. Olson, the official appointed to speak out on behalf of U.S. taxpayers, has a few major gripes about the Internal Revenue Service. Among them, she believes the agency needs to better protect victims of tax-related identity theft. She also thinks the IRS should get more information out to homeowners about a new law eliminating taxes on debt canceled as a result of foreclosure.

Olson, who is the national taxpayer advocate, issued a summer report to Congress identifying areas of concern the IRS needs to focus on in the 2009 fiscal year.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the enactment of the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act, which created the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate to identify problems within the IRS and help taxpayers resolve conflicts with the agency.

Olson works independently within the IRS and is required by law to submit two annual reports to Congress. One is due at the end of the year and, among other things, must identify the most serious problems encountered by taxpayers.

Another report is due midyear and must identify the objectives of the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate.

Olson has served as the taxpayer advocate for seven years. She is an attorney licensed in Virginia and North Carolina and the founder of the Community Tax Law Project, a low-income taxpayer clinic. Her experience working with taxpayer disputes has helped her appreciate the frustration so many people have had with the IRS.

"By 1997, I had logged more time on telephone holds with the IRS, listening to a constantly repeating 'Nutcracker Suite,' than have most IRS employees," Olson wrote in her recent report.

Olson said the creation of the taxpayer advocate office has "substantially improved tax administration and fairness for taxpayers."

Here are three areas Olson wants to focus on in 2009:

· Tax-related identity theft. Olson said identity theft targeted at taxpayers is a serious problem. In one type of scam, a thief may file a return using a person's Social Security number. The motive is refund fraud. The thief will use someone else's personal information to file a false return, typically early in the filing season before the innocent taxpayer files his or her own legitimate return. If the real taxpayer files electronically, the IRS will automatically reject the return because the system accepts only one electronic filing per Social Security number for each tax period.

Olson's report faults the IRS for not having adequate procedures in place to assist victims of identity theft. "While the IRS is reforming some aspects of its approach to identity theft, its procedures for dealing with victims have been a significant part of the problem," Olson wrote in her report.

To help alleviate this problem, the IRS is implementing an identity-theft indicator that tracks taxpayer accounts. Beginning in January 2009, returns filed using Social Security numbers associated with a universal identity theft indicator will be filtered to help distinguish legitimate returns from fraudulent ones.

Olson has concerns about the effectiveness of the coding system. She recommended that the IRS create a centralized unit to handle identity theft cases.

· Cancellation of debt income. When a person or business borrows money and the debt is canceled, the borrower generally must include the amount of the canceled debt in gross income. This often-unexpected tax hit can affect borrowers who lose their homes to foreclosure or who default on car loans or credit card debts. Last year, Congress passed a law giving temporary tax relief to homeowners who had mortgage debt canceled. The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act allows a taxpayer to exclude from income qualified home loan debt forgiven in 2007, 2008 or 2009. The debt must have been used to buy, build or substantially improve your principal residence and must have been secured by that residence.

Here's the problem. The tax relief isn't given automatically. You have to file IRS Form 982, "Reduction of Tax Attributes Due to Discharge of Indebtedness," and the form has to be attached to the federal tax return.

Many people entitled to this tax break aren't filing the form. Olson said she wants to work with IRS to get the word out to more people.

· IRS collection practices. Olson remains concerned about collection issues, including the seizure of assets before other alternatives have been exhausted.

If you are having trouble resolving a tax problem, contact the taxpayer advocate service by calling toll-free 1-877-777-4778 or TTY/TDD 1-800-829-4059. The service is free and confidential. For more information online, go to http://www.irs.gov/advocate.

Olson's report is fair to the IRS but also tough. If the agency implements even a fraction of what she recommends, taxpayers will be better treated by one of the most feared agencies in the government.

· On the air: Michelle Singletary discusses personal finance Tuesdays on NPR's "Day to Day" program and athttp://www.npr.org.

· By mail: Readers can write to her at The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071.

· By e-mail:singletarym@washpost.com.

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