Editorial: IRS must transform its culture

Tuesday, April 20, 1999 | 11:06 a.m.

The timing couldn't have been worse. As Americans scrambled to file their tax returns on April 15, officials in the Internal Revenue Service's Houston office set in motion a scheme to fire an IRS whistle-blower.

The agent that these officials wanted to terminate was no ordinary employee: She was Jennifer Long, a career tax auditor who created a sensation when she told a congressional committee in 1997 that low-income taxpayers were being targeted for audits while agents were instructed to avoid the friends of agency managers. Long was the only agent at that hearing -- former or current -- willing to testify openly; the rest had their identities hidden or disguised out of fear of retribution. The attempted action against Long has given credence to other agents' assertions before Congress that whistle-blowing isn't tolerated by the IRS.

Long told the New York Times last week that ever since she testified before Congress she has been harassed and her work has been subject to quibbling review. Last Thursday Long was given a written notice that she would be fired within 60 days if she didn't meet a laundry list of 33 improvement areas. For an example of the nitpicking, her 60-day notice told in detail how she was to fill out her calendar book, including the type of shorthand to describe whether an appointment with a taxpayer was either confirmed or only tentative. It's obvious her supervisors in Houston were embarrassed by her testimony and wanted her out.

IRS Commissioner Charles Rossotti, an outsider brought in to reform the agency, was furious about the moves to dismiss Long and stopped any effort to fire her. In addition, Rossotti ordered the agency's inspector general to investigate the matter. His decisive action to stop any possibility of Long being fired shows he won't tolerate retribution against IRS whistle-blowers.

To his credit Rossotti has done practically everything within his power to make the necessary structural changes so the IRS is more efficient and customer-friendly. The irony of the retaliation against the IRS agent in Houston is that, generally speaking, the IRS has been receiving praise from unexpected quarters for the improvements that have been made. For instance, Rep. Amo Houghton, R-N.Y., the chairman of the House subcommittee with oversight of the IRS, acknowledged that the IRS deserved praise for the filing season going so well this year in light of all the new reforms; the chief operating officer of H&R Block noted that the IRS' improvements have been "impressive."

Rossotti unfortunately is facing a roadblock of resistance from longtime IRS managers who, as they made their way up the ladder, felt as if they were kings and taxpayers were their subjects. The key for genuine reform is whether Rossotti and other high-ranking officials can root out the pockets of resistance among those district office managers who show contempt for reform. For everyone's sake we hope Rossotti's bid is successful.