2011 Annual Report to Congress
National Taxpayer Advocate (NTA) Nina E. Olson released her annual report to Congress on Jan. 11, 2012, identifying the combination of the IRS’s expanding workload and declining resources as the most serious problem facing taxpayers. The result, the report says, is inadequate taxpayer service, erosion of taxpayer rights, and reduced tax compliance, especially in light of the increased diversity of the taxpayer population. The Advocate expressed her continuing concern that the IRS’s expanding use of automated processes to adjust tax liabilities is causing harm to taxpayers and recommended that Congress enact a comprehensive Taxpayer Bill of Rights.
The IRS is Not Adequately Funded to Serve Taxpayers and Collect Taxes
Tax-Related Identity Theft Continues to Impose Significant Burdens on Taxpayers and the IRS
ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS ADDITIONAL FACTS
- Congress has not passed a major piece of legislation addressing taxpayer rights since the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998.
- The individual taxpayer population in 1913 was estimated at 358,000, grew to 47.1 million in 1944, and today stands at 141.2 million. The taxpayer population has become more diverse due to demographic trends as well as expansions in the scope of the tax law.
- By law, the National Taxpayer Advocate must submit two reports to Congress each year: an Annual Report to Congress and an Objectives Report for the next fiscal year.
- The Taxpayer Advocate Service helps individual taxpayers; small, medium-sized, and large businesses; and tax-exempt organizations.
