Part
1: Complexity
remains top problem, Tax Advocate tells Congress
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"The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes,
from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several
states, and without regard to any census of enumeration"
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Taxes Here
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Complexity of the federal
income tax law
remains the top problem for both individual and business
taxpayers, according to the
National Taxpayer Advocate’s Annual Report to Congress for year 2000.
In presenting the report on Jan. 4, 2001, Acting National Taxpayer Advocate
Henry Lamar told lawmakers,
"This report shares our vision of what remains to be done to provide top
quality service to America’s taxpayers."
Required
to be delivered annually, the report details steps taken by the Taxpayer
Advocate Service to help taxpayers resolve problems in dealing with the IRS and
identifies areas of the tax law that most often cause those problems. The report contains a
list of
the 20 most serious problems encountered by taxpayers from the point of view
of
individuals, practitioners, and the Internal Revenue Service. Topping the
list in
this year’s report:
1. Complexity of Individual Tax Law
2. Complexity of Business Tax Law
3. Clarity and Tone of IRS Correspondence
4. Inability to Access Toll-Free Number
5. Burden on Small Businesses
6. Administration of Earned Income Tax Credit
7. Lack of One-Stop Service
8. Lack of Acknowledgement of Correspondence and Payments
9. Penalty Administration
10. Processing issues with the Offers in Compromise Program
The report also lists the 10 tax-related issues that most often ended up in
tax court during 2000. Topping this list were: filing status, independent
contractor vs. employer issues, and penalty and interest issues.
Next page > What Congress should do to
help?
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