IRS RESPONSE TO RECOMMENDATION: As described above, Appeals uses its best efforts in Field cases to schedule an in-person conference on a date and at a location that is reasonably convenient for the taxpayer and Appeals, and we are currently working to identify ways to expand the availability of in-person conferences to Campus cases.

CORRECTIVE ACTION: N/A

TAS RESPONSE: As noted in the overall TAS response, the National Taxpayer Advocate applauds Appeals’ progress since October of 2016 with respect to reinstating in-person conferences for Field cases. Nevertheless, this momentum must continue so that the availability of an in-person conference is not dependent on Appeals’ best efforts, but becomes a right on which taxpayers can rely in all but the rarest instances.

Further, taxpayers whose cases are assigned to a Campus currently have no access whatsoever to an in-person conference. If a taxpayer chooses case assistance, the taxpayer will sit in a room with an Appeals Technical Employee (ATE) and be connected via teleconferencing to another ATE who ultimately will render a decision in the case. This alternative, however, cannot serve as a substitute for an in-person conference where taxpayers desire to sit across the table from an ATE with whom they are attempting to resolve their case. Appeals itself created the circumstances that are cited as the reasons why in-person conferences cannot be allowed for Campus cases; therefore, the National Taxpayer Advocate is heartened by Appeals’ representations that it is exploring the means of remedying these limitations.

As one possibility, Appeals could simply reinstitute the right of taxpayers to seek a case transfer out of a Campus and into a Field office to facilitate an in-person conference. Further, in order to accommodate these in-person conferences, as well as to better facilitate conferences for Field cases and to improve the overall taxpayer experience, Appeals can begin to expand its geographic footprint, as discussed below.

ADOPTED, PARTIALLY ADOPTED or NOT ADOPTED: Partially Adopted

OPEN or CLOSED: Closed

DUE DATE FOR ACTION (if left open): N/A

IRS RESPONSE TO RECOMMENDATION: ​​Appeals continues to explore how to expand and improve virtual conference opportunities for taxpayers. As part of this effort, we are pilot testing the use of Cisco WebEx Meeting Server (WebEx) technology with interested taxpayers. WebEx allows taxpayers and Appeals employees to conduct online meetings from their computers with video conferencing and screen sharing. The pilot, which began in August 2017 with a limited number of volunteer employees, is scheduled to conclude in September 2018.

CORRECTIVE ACTION: Appeals continues to explore how to expand and improve virtual conference opportunities for taxpayers. As part of this effort, we are pilot testing the use of Cisco WebEx Meeting Server (WebEx) technology with interested taxpayers. WebEx allows taxpayers and Appeals employees to conduct online meetings from their computers with video conferencing and screen sharing. The pilot, which began in August 2017 with a limited number of volunteer employees, is scheduled to conclude in September 2018.

TAS RESPONSE: The National Taxpayer Advocate commends Appeals for its efforts aimed at providing taxpayers high quality options for participating in conferences. Toward that end, WebEx appears to present exciting possibilities, and TAS looks forward to reviewing the results of the pilot program.

However, all of these alternatives to in-person conferences, including WebEx, must be conceptualized as options presented to taxpayers, not as justifications for denying taxpayers access to in-person conferences. As these options increase, both in terms of quality and quantity, only taxpayers who believe that an in-person conference is essential for the adequate presentation of their case will generally make such a request. These requests should be honored.

ADOPTED, PARTIALLY ADOPTED or NOT ADOPTED: Adopted

OPEN or CLOSED: Closed

DUE DATE FOR ACTION (if left open): N/A

IRS RESPONSE TO RECOMMENDATION: Appeals makes every effort to position our employees in geographic proximity to our work, even with our limited budget and employee attrition.

Appeals takes a regional approach to staffing: we place our employees where they are most needed to effectively serve the public. Because some geographic areas generate more work than others, it would be inefficient to permanently station employees in states where they would have inadequate caseloads and would likely need to travel to conduct conferences in states with heavier caseloads. To be responsive to taxpayers located in states where Appeals does not have a permanent physical presence, we engage in circuit riding to those states.

We also note that our technical specialists – those with expertise in international issues, financial products, estate and gift tax, exempt organizations, etc. – are geographically dispersed and limited in number.

Matching the skills or expertise of the Appeals employee to the issues involved in a case is our primary goal for proper case resolution and taxpayer service. This goal informs our regional, rather than state-by-state, staffing approach.

CORRECTIVE ACTION: N/A

TAS RESPONSE: Resource constraints and considerations of efficiency cannot be allowed to override the right to quality service. ATEs are most needed not in Campuses and regional offices, but in the communities that are impacted by their decisions.

An essential aspect of quality case resolution is a rapport between a taxpayer and an ATE. Intangible but incalculably powerful benefits arise from a common understanding of the social and economic challenges facing the community in which a taxpayer lives. This shared knowledge of circumstances can most effectively be achieved when ATEs live in relatively close proximity to the taxpayers with whom they are interacting.

Concentrating ATEs in Campuses and larger cities from which they communicate with taxpayers by telephone, by videoconferencing, or by occasionally traveling to distant locations to conduct circuit-riding conferences detaches ATEs from the taxpayers they serve. This trend toward consolidation and separation is precisely the opposite of what should be occurring. Instead, Appeals should expand its geographic footprint and reengage with taxpayers, which will help taxpayers gain confidence that their cases will be brought before ATEs who are accessible, committed to case resolution, and conversant with their circumstances.

Workload and resource concerns are simply not insurmountable obstacles to this approach. As TAS has amply demonstrated through its own geographic footprint, it is possible to round out smaller locale inventories with assignments of cases that are resolvable independent of location. Moreover, Appeals can staff offices in those states currently without a geographic presence by allocating the new hiring made possible through campus retirements and other attrition to field offices, thereby allowing resource expenditures to be held constant.

ADOPTED, PARTIALLY ADOPTED or NOT ADOPTED: Not Adopted

OPEN or CLOSED: Closed

DUE DATE FOR ACTION (if left open): N/A