Reid continues push to revamp IRS

Thursday, Oct. 16, 1997 | 11:13 a.m.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., set up a possible confrontation with President Clinton Wednesday after putting the third phase of his Taxpayer Bill of Rights on display during a press conference.

When asked what part of the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1997 he would refuse to change in any negotiations, he responded that it was the creation of an independent Citizens Oversight Committee.

"We need an independent board to give the IRS a rudder," Reid said.

Clinton, who opposes dramatic changes within the agency, says he prefers an internal oversight committee.

During the press conference at the Foley Federal Building, the senator, who has pushed for IRS reform for almost a decade, said there will be enough votes to override a veto of the latest bill should it come to that.

In 1988, Reid sponsored the original bill when Nevada casino workers were being monitored by the IRS in an effort to force them to pay taxes on their tips.

Last year Clinton signed what has been called Taxpayers Bill of Rights II.

The landmark legislation guarantees taxpayers the right to have an attorney represent them before the IRS, requires the IRS to clearly explain taxpayers' rights to them, forbids the IRS from using quotas for audits or property seizures, allows taxpayers to recover financial damages inflicted by the IRS and creates a taxpayer advocate office to act as the taxpayers' voice within the IRS bureaucracy.

The 1996 law allows taxpayers to sue the IRS for up to $1 million for reckless collections.

The law now allows a taxpayer to sue anyone filing false information about matters such as wages and interest income and it has also expanded the powers of the independent taxpayers' advocate, an office that requires IRS to issue refund checks and meet deadlines in performing tasks for taxpayers.

Taxpayers Bill of Rights III is the latest IRS reform bill drafted by Reid and eight other senators, primarily Republicans.

The new bill was created after a year-long audit of the IRS was completed in June.

When the new bill becomes law, it will make taxpayer service the main priority of the IRS.

The latest proposal holds the agency more accountable for mismanagement and creates an independent citizen oversight board.

According to Reid three major problems are addressed by the new act, including poor taxpayer service, poor oversight and management and a tax code that is too complicated.

The IRS Restructuring and Reform Act proposes to:

Some IRS supervisors have said the so-called quotas are merely management oversight rules and do not require agents to collect any certain amount of taxes in any given time period.

But Reid said at his press conference those supervisors appear to be very close to breaking the law and that there is at present an internal investigation into the quota accusations.

A number of guests at the press conference, including a retired IRS agent and various representatives of the IRS employees' National Treasury Employees Union, said it was vague whether supervisors actually used quotas.

Reid emphasized that his proposed law does not blame individual IRS agents.

"We are not here to berate the employees of the IRS, it's the management," said Reid, who noted that the first speech he gave in the U.S. Senate was on the Taxpayer Bill of Rights.