The Internal Revenue Service continues to have problems with its Collections Due Process Program, according to a recent government report.
The program is supposed to help taxpayers exercise their right to appeal with the IRS files a lien or notice of intent to levy against them, but the report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration indicates that the service is still plagued by many of the problems that characterized the program last year.
Specifically, the IRS Office of Appeals did not always classify taxpayer requests properly and, as a result, some taxpayers received the wrong type of hearing; errors c ontinued relating to the determination of the collection statute expiration date on taxpayer accounts; and Appeals personnel did not always document their impartiality statement in hearing notification letters issued to taxpayers.
TIGTA also identified delays in the initial processing of requests for hearings prior to receipt by Appeals personnel. Some taxpayer requests for a hearing took over 90 days to reach Appeals personnel, which could have affected the taxpayer’s due process rights.
The inspector general recommended that the chief of appeals correct the taxpayer accounts that were identified with collection statute expiration date errors. In response, IRS management stated that all errors on the taxpayers’ accounts had been corrected.
The full report is available
