• Embed Doc
  • Copy Link
  • Readcast
  • Collections
  • 1
    CommentGo Back
Download
 
Pappas & Associates, P.A
.
KOGER CENTERLAKEPOINTE II.930 WOODCOCK ROAD3111 W. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING BLVD.SUITE 227SUITE 100ORLANDO, FL 32803TAMPA, FL 33607TELEPHONE 407 648-2555TELEPHONE 813 282-1009FACSIMILE 407 264-6580EMAIL: PPAPPAS@PAPPASLAW.COM
April 10, 2009Doug Shulman, EsquireCommissioner of Internal Revenue10th St & Pennsylvania Ave, NWWashington, DC 20004RE: IRS Abuse of Taxpayer Right to CounselDear Commissioner Shulman:I am a CPA and attorney and have been practicing tax law for over 25 years.This is the first time I have found it necessary to contact the Commissioner about a problem Ihave had with an IRS employee.In only a handful of cases have I found it necessary to file a TIGTA complaint against a RevenueAgent. Each of those cases involved, among other things, an IRS agent who violated the taxpayer’s rightto representation.Every one of these TIGTA complaints were ignored and I was never contacted by an investigator to discuss the circumstances of the alleged violation nor am I aware that the IRS officials who were thesubjects of the complaint received so much as a private reprimand.I stopped filing TIGTA complaints not because I no longer experienced IRS misconduct, but because they were futile.In any event, please be assured that I do not take the filing of a complaint against an IRS officiallightly and I would not be lodging one now if I did not believe the facts, circumstances and the interestsof justice warranted it.
Summary of the Facts
In the past month I have had two IRS revenue agents contact my clients directly even though theIRS had on file powers of attorney authorizing me to represent them.In one especially disturbing case, a Revenue Agent, Michael X, Badge No. 59-XXXXX visitedmy client’s place of business and told her that she did not need a lawyer, should not have hired a lawyer and should have paid the IRS instead of wasting her money on a lawyer.He then proceeded, over her repeated objections, to ask her detailed questions about her financesand her ability to pay the IRS.
 
Mr. Doug ShulmanCommissioner, Internal RevenueApril 9, 2009
 See Exhibit “A” for the taxpayer’s sworn affidavit.
What is particularly outrageous is that all of this happened
after 
the following had occurred:
a.
We had sent to ACS a fully supported and documented request for an installment agreement;
b.
The IRS had reassigned the case to the Revenue Officer; and
c.
We had spoken with the Revenue Officer and had responded promptly and thoroughly hiscalls and requests for additional information.The actions of Mr. X provide a textbook example of an IRS official’s violation of a statutorilygranted taxpayer right and should it should not be cavalierly set aside.These cases do not happen in a vacuum, however.
The IRS Has a Culture of Disrespect for IRS Representatives
As a fellow lawyer, I am sure you can appreciate how disturbing this is and why so many IRSrepresentatives believe that the IRS pays only lip-service to a taxpayer’s right to representation.The Michael X case is, I believe, merely a symptom of a bureaucratic culture that disrespects anddisregards a taxpayer’s unequivocal right to representation in matters before the IRS.For every one of these obvious violations of a taxpayer’s right to counsel there are hundreds of more subtle abuses.Here is a non-exhaustive list of acts in which IRS Revenue Agents regularly engage that either eliminate or diminish a taxpayer’s right to counsel:
1.
Make Unreasonable Demands and Set Unreasonable Deadlines
: Revenue Agents oftenimpose unreasonable and unfair time deadlines for return telephone calls from IRSrepresentatives and then, when those strict deadlines are not met, use that fact as an excuse tocontact the taxpayer directly and tell them their representative isn’t doing his or her job.
2.
Disparage IRS Representatives as a Class
: Revenue Agents frequently discourageunrepresented taxpayers from hiring counsel at the same time they hand those taxpayers the IRSDeclaration of Rights the first listed right of which is the taxpayer’s right to representation.
3.
Decline or Return POAs for Hyper-technical reasons
: IRS personnel regularly decline or return Powers of Attorney for petty, technical reasons. There is great inconsistency among IRSRevenue Agents as to the proper completion of Form 2848.
4.
Prepare Complex Forms “on b ehalf ” of Taxpayer s :
Many Revenue Agents will hastily preparefinancial statements and conduct 4180 interviews without telling the taxpayer that thesedocuments are to be signed under penalties of perjury. The Agent should make this very clear tothe taxpayer and remind him or her of the taxpayer’s right to counsel. The Revenue Agent cannot
 
Mr. Doug ShulmanCommissioner, Internal RevenueApril 9, 2009
and should not give any counsel, or make any recommendation to the taxpayer because he or shehas a clear conflict of interest.
5.
Engage in Unlicensed Practice of Law:
When dealing with unrepresented taxpayers, RevenueAgents regularly take it upon themselves to give taxpayers legal advice.There are two obvious problems here:
A.
Unless the Revenue Agent is also a licensed lawyer, this constitutes the unlicensed practice of law and is illegal.
B.
Even if the Revenue Agent is authorized to practice law, he or she has a clear conflict of interest and should disclose that fact to the taxpayer and (at least in accordance with the RulesRegulating the Florida Bar) obtain a written waiver of the conflict.
Sanctions are Available for Abuse by IRS Employees of Taxpayer Rights
If a taxpayer’s right to representation is to mean anything, these kinds of abuses, both the bluntand the subtle ones, must be stopped.The IRS has the mechanism to do it.Congress passed a law in 1998 that requires the IRS to swiftly and severely deal with suchabuses.The IRS’s anti-retaliation policy (
Section 1203 (b)(6) of RRA ’98) states:
Violations of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, Department of Treasury regulations, or policiesof the Internal Revenue Service (including the Internal Revenue Manual) for the purpose of 
retaliating against 
 , or harassing, a taxpayer, taxpayer representative, or other employee of the Internal Revenue Service [is an act or omission requiring termination].
I have sent a copy of this letter to Ms. Nina Olson, National Taxpayer Advocate, Mr. Charles Rangel,Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and Senator Bill Nelson of Florida.One of the most frustrating things about these abuses is that in at least 80% of the cases, an IRSrepresentative facilitates collection of an outstanding IRS debt.For example, we advise hundreds of taxpayers a month to file their delinquent tax returns andoffer some kind of payment arrangement with the federal government.We are clearly not the enemy.Why is it then that
 
the IRS continues to treat us as if we were?
Request for Imposition of Sanctions against Revenue Officer Michael X
While I do not like to see anyone lose his or her job, especially in a difficult economy like the onewe have now, I do not see the point of having an Anti-Retaliation policy that is not enforced.
of 00

Leave a Comment

You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...
Michelle Sparks Terry

can someone please help me get my refund back. the irs is holding it for 6 months now with no reason why. they have hung up on me when i called.they are rude . and i still dont have my refund.i pay my taxes just like everyone else , i should get my money just like everyone else.

reply06 / 01 / 2011
You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...