Tax reform advocate says IRS open houses are PR but a good step

Monday, Nov. 17, 1997 | 2:54 a.m.

"But that's progress," added Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform. "And we ought not to pooh-pooh it."

Prior to recent congressional hearings focusing on the IRS, agency representatives were hostile and insistent that the hearings were a waste of time, James said, adding, "The IRS is now admitting to real problems."

During the recent Senate investigative hearings, the agency was accused of abuses including the use of illegal tax collection quotas and shakedowns of lower-income taxpayers.

On Saturday, the IRS held its first "problem-solving day" in 33 cities across the nation. About 3,500 taxpayers made appointments to discuss questions about escalating penalty assessments or clearing up late returns.

A thousand IRS workers were on hand to handle the appointments and any walk-in cases.

Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., and other House Republicans piggybacked on the IRS event by holding their own tax-related "town hall" meetings. At a rally in Roswell, Ga., Gingrich denounced the IRS event as a "public relations gimmick designed by the White House."

"It's a nice thing to do but it's not a substitute for the kind of profound reform that is in the IRS reform bill that was passed by the House two weeks ago," Gingrich said.

Norquist was here to join GOP Senate hopeful Bruce James in announcing James' signing of the group's "taxpayer protection pledge."