Taxpayers consider kinder IRS as filing deadline looms

Monday, April 16, 2001 | 11:30 a.m.

As the minutes tick down to tonight's midnight deadline for filing taxes, those paying them can rest easy knowing that if something goes wrong, they can deal with a kinder, gentler Internal Revenue Service.

Before shouting, "yeah, right!" consider that since congressional reforms of 1998, the IRS has made internal changes to give taxpayers hope of fairer treatment.

One such change was creating in March last year the Taxpayer Advocate Service, an intermediary group that replaced the less effective quarter-century-old Problem Resolution Office. Congress gave the new service a measure of independence, removing it from the jurisdiction of local IRS directors.

"We cannot solve every problem, but three-quarters of the complaints filed with us are resolved in the best interest of the taxpayer -- that is, they are granted relief," said Nevada Taxpayer Advocate Deborah Grant, who runs a six-person staff at Las Vegas IRS headquarters on West Oakey Boulevard, just east of Decatur Boulevard.

"The other one-quarter are just asking for the impossible."

The impossible includes taxpayers asking Grant's office to make their tax debts go away. While today's IRS is striving to show that its officials can be just a bunch of softies, its job is still to be the dreaded tax collector -- a responsibility taken seriously.

Other impossible requests, Grant said, include removing liens placed on property because of a tax debt or speeding along "offers and compromise" deals between the agency and delinquent taxpayers.

What her office can do is help destitute people like the homeless and others with hardships get their refunds within a week, help taxpayers file delinquent returns and thus reduce tax debts, some penalties and interest, report rude IRS agents to their supervisors, and protect businesses and individuals from the IRS seizing their property in exchange for more time to meet tax debts.

Often, Grant said, that puts her at odds with supervisors in other IRS departments, who are aggressively doing their jobs by trying to collect past due taxes.

"Our office is designed to listen to the complaints of people and show empathy for their situation," Grant said, noting that since Oct. 1 her office has processed 609 cases statewide. "We listen to both sides and try to reach a compromise. We try to put behind us what has happened in the past and look at the here and now."

This time of year is especially busy for Grant's office, as her staff spends much time tracking down refunds that were delayed either by IRS computer glitches or by taxpayer errors on their 1040 and other forms.

"We can cut through the red tape by finding the IRS employee who processed the return and ask that person what more is needed to expedite it," Grant said.

Local private tax consultants respect the advocate's office, but warn that it can only do so much.

"If it is a black-or-white issue, the IRS truly does not want the taxpayer to pay one nickel more than what is owed," Southern Nevada tax consultant Scott Bordelove said. "But the problem is the tax code is not always black and white -- it's gray. It is open to much interpretation.

"A private tax consultant can get over all of the high hurdles without hitting the block walls. The Taxpayer Advocate has its purpose and it works. But you first have to get to them, and that is not always easy."

Grant admits that her office indeed is not a first step, but rather a last step that can be taken only after a taxpayer has gone through the system -- sometimes to the point of utter frustration -- and exhausted other avenues for relief.

"People have to try to resolve their problems by going through the normal processes," she said. "When normal channels don't work, taxpayers fill out Form 911 (Application for Taxpayer Assistance Order) and come to us."