CP 22A - Data Processing Adjustment Notice - Balance Due

TAS Pre-Filing Season Awareness Event for New Orleans, Louisiana. Several dates and times available. Please check back often for updates.

Pre-Filing Season Awareness Event for Louisville, Kentucky. Several dates and times available. Please check back often for updates.

Pre-Filing Season Awareness Event for Honolulu, Hawaii. Several dates and times available. Please check back often for updates.

Pre-Filing Season Awareness Event for Connecticut. Several dates and times available. Please check back often for updates.

Pre-Filing Season Awareness Event for Denver, Colorado. Several dates and times available. Please check back often for updates.

Request for Verification of Unreported Income, Payments, and/or Credits. Letter CP2000 is sent to notify you that one or more items on your return don’t match what was reported to the IRS by third parties (e.g., employers or financial institutions).

The National Taxpayer Advocate is releasing the National Taxpayer Advocate 2021 Purple Book. In it, she presents a concise summary of 68 legislative recommendations that she believes will strengthen taxpayer rights and improve tax administration. Most of the recommendations have been made in detail in prior reports, but others are presented in this book for the first time. She believes that most of the recommendations presented in this volume are non-controversial, common sense reforms that the tax-writing committees and other Members of Congress may find useful.

The National Taxpayer Advocate is releasing the National Taxpayer Advocate 2021 Purple Book. In it, she presents a concise summary of 68 legislative recommendations that she believes will strengthen taxpayer rights and improve tax administration. Most of the recommendations have been made in detail in prior reports, but others are presented in this book for the first time. She believes that most of the recommendations presented in this volume are non-controversial, common sense reforms that the tax-writing committees and other Members of Congress may find useful.

As the National Taxpayer Advocate, I have previously recommended reforms to prevent scam victims from being penalized by the tax system. Chief Counsel’s memo shows that more victims than perhaps previously thought might qualify for the theft loss deduction, but it also illustrates how much work remains to help all taxpayers who find themselves victims of fraud.

Theft Loss Deductions Then and Now

Section 165(c) of the Internal Revenue Code allows taxpayers to deduct losses sustained during the taxable year that are not reimbursed by insurance or other compensation. Historically, this provision has been a help to individuals suffering financial losses from theft, fraud, or other criminal conduct. Before the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017, theft losses – whether personal or investment-related – were subject to certain limitations based on adjusted gross income thresholds.

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) recently issued a report finding that TAS’s local office telephone lines were not giving taxpayers the opportunity to speak with TAS representatives or leave messages. Fortunately, this problem was limited in scope because most calls are placed to our national toll-free number, and we immediately took corrective actions to address TIGTA’s findings.

But the audit highlighted a larger issue: Although TAS ultimately serves most taxpayers well, we are not starting to work cases and we are not returning telephone calls as quickly as we would like. Part of my job is to highlight areas where the IRS is not meeting expectations, so it’s only fair that I be transparent in acknowledging where TAS is falling short. In this blog, I will explain some of the challenges we are facing and describe actions we are taking to improve the level of service we provide to taxpayers, from immediate steps to those we’re planning to implement over the next year and beyond.

Each year, I submit the National Taxpayer Advocate Annual Report to Congress with recommendations for administrative actions the IRS can take to resolve the most serious problems encountered by taxpayers. The IRS is statutorily required to respond to our recommendations, and while most of its responses are good, some are bad, and some concerning. Of the 78 recommendations I made in the 2023 Annual Report to Congress, the IRS adopted 63 in full or in part. I am very appreciative of the IRS’s efforts to incorporate TAS’s recommendations on behalf of taxpayers.

In its responses to the recommendations, the IRS has outlined several exciting, anticipated technology, policy, and procedural improvements that should lead to a better taxpayer experience and the protection of important taxpayer rights. In this blog, I will highlight some of these positive IRS responses. Then, in two upcoming blogs, I will highlight several instances where the IRS’s responses to our recommendations were bad, and in the case of recommendations focusing on the experience of international taxpayers, are concerning.

National Taxpayer Advocate delivers Annual Report to Congress; focuses on taxpayer impact of processing and refund delays