For many Americans, tax appeals are a daunting process. Every year, the IRS Office of Appeals sees over 100,000 tax appeals travel across their desks from those taxpayers challenging the IRS with tax disputes ranging from the simple to the complex. However, it’s the right of Americans to state their case under the Taxpayer Bill of Rights. Getting it done, though, can be the real challenge.
Traditionally, a taxpayer will appeal a tax bill and within 60 days receive a date to speak with the IRS in a taxpayer appeals conference, either in person or over the phone. The latter of the two became the preferred means of contact following the IRS’s revised Manual Provisions on October 1, 2016—provided there were no obstacles like potential confidentiality breaches, technical information that couldn’t be transmitted over a phone, or even disabilities like hearing impairment.
While phone calls to the IRS can be somewhat effective, many prefer face time with the IRS when making their case, though the taxpayer may live far from his or her respective IRS Appeals office.
In an effort to improve access, the IRS Office of Appeals has launched a pilot program providing virtual taxpayer conferences. The program, which arrived in beta form on August 1, aims to provide live face-to-face interaction with IRS employees over the Internet. While the project would primarily assist those who live far from IRS Appeals offices, anyone can conduct their conference remotely from their own home. A secure online platform offers screen-sharing capability where the taxpayer and an IRS employee can conduct a secure conference.
The IRS has developed this project in an effort to streamline the appeals process and provide more efficient service, using technology to reintroduce the human live experience.
How does this fit in with the Affordable Care Act (ACA)? It’s another tool to make it easier for your business to appear in response to notices that may be issued by the IRS regarding your mandated ACA information filing. The IRS has indicated that it could be sending enforcement notices as early as the end of this year to inform businesses with 50 or more full time or full time equivalent employees – referred to as Applicable Large Employers or ALEs – what the IRS determines they owe for failing to comply with the employer shared responsibility mandate for the 2015 tax year. Having the ability to contact the IRS through a virtual appeal could make it easier to streamline the exchange of information with the agency, in hopes that any misunderstandings can be clarified expeditiously. It also should result in reduced costs and travel time.
The IRS plans to evaluate the success rate of the Virtual Appeals pilot before making it a permanent option for the appeals process. However, it makes sense. “In the future, the technology may give taxpayers greater options in engaging with Appeals and could allow us the flexibility to serve taxpayers virtually from any location using mobile devices or computers,” says IRS Chief of Appeals Donna Hansberry on a press release. “We hope this is one more option to enable IRS employees to provide timely, efficient and effective service to taxpayers.”
Anything that makes communicating with the IRS easier and more personal can only be a welcome development.
You can ready the IRS press release at this link.