04/29/2019
The Taxpayer Advocate Service was established as a division of the IRS to ease the burden of tax debt for taxpayers suffering significant hardship due to the IRS’ collection actions. The program authorizes the taxpayer advocate (under IRC Section 7811(a)) to issue a Taxpayer Assistance Order (TAO) to forestall punitive collection actions against a taxpayer facing serious financial difficulties and unable to pay the tax.
The program is not intended to circumvent the normal administrative and judicial review procedures established by law, nor is it intended to undermine the merits of the taxpayer’s liability for the tax debt.
The IRS provides the Taxpayer Advocate Service in almost every State of the Union. In addition, each State tax agency also provides for a Taxpayer Advocate who is independent of the local IRS office but reports directly to the National Taxpayer Advocate. Both tax agencies provide information on the locations of these important services on their individual websites.
Generally, you can request assistance from the Taxpayer Advocate when you can no longer provide for basic necessities such as food, housing and transportation as a result of the tax agency’s enforcement and collection actions against you.
Please, contact us immediately if you feel that you are in a situation that qualifies for relief based on the program’s criteria. In our experience, the Taxpayer Advocate will still consider your issue even if the criteria were not met, especially if you feel that the IRS has acted inappropriately.
It is important to note that while the Taxpayer Advocate is limited to a strict interpretation of the tax laws and thus cannot decide an application of the tax law favorable to you, the office can help reverse errors you made from previous contacts with the IRS so that your case can receive an impartial review.
