Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson’s Starts Blog

My favorite IRS employee has started a blog. Paul Caron reports:

National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson has started a blog:

Welcome to the National Taxpayer Advocate’s blog about taxpayer  rights and taxpayer burden. For starters, let me explain that I use the  term “taxpayer rights” here to mean not only statutory rights but also  the unstated “agreement” underlying our system of voluntary tax  compliance. That is, the government expects and requires taxpayers to  pay the correct amount of tax due under the laws, and in return commits  to treating taxpayers fairly, with dignity and respect, and providing  them with the necessary assistance and guidance to comply with the tax  law. In short, taxpayer rights incorporate the government’s obligation  to minimize taxpayer burden.

Why a blog about taxpayer rights, and why now? As I said in my preface to the 2011 Annual Report to Congress,  the IRS has experienced a huge increase in its workload while its  resources have declined over the last two years. This trend increases  the risk that the IRS will take shortcuts that, perhaps unintentionally,  deprive taxpayers of their ability to dispute effectively an IRS action  or achieve a reasonable resolution to their tax problems.

The imbalance between work and resources drives the IRS to use  automation to increase the productivity of its employees. While on the  surface this observation may seem like a good thing, further analysis  yields a number of areas of concern.

Related Posts:

• Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson Concerned that Burdens of New 1099 Reporting Requirements will Exceed Benefits
• Whatever Nina Wants, Nina Gets 
• National Taxpayer Advocate, Nina Olson, Delivers Report, Congress Pandiculates
• Taxpayer Advocate Scolds Unenrolled Preparers, Favors Regulation
• Taxpayer Advocate’s Recommendation: Go Easier on Taxpayers Experiencing Economic Hardship