Tax Justice Warriors

A followup of the 2019 ABA Tax Section May Meeting May 9-11.  Two talks from IRS Commissioner Rettig, Tax Court judges on panels and in the audience, a Tax Court announcement, our panel on Collection Due Process, and more.  Plus, May 10 had the IRS Kansas City Campus Combined Practitioner Liaison Meeting.  This episode is a recap and I will dig into several of these topics in future episodes.

Next week is the ABA Tax Section 2019 May Meeting in Washington, D.C. (May 9-11).  I talk about some highlights and panels I might attend.  IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig will be speaking twice, basically at the beginning and end of the conference (Tax Bridge to Practice and the plenary luncheon).  I also detail the Collection Due Process panel I will be on with Carolyn Lee (Morgan, Lewis and Brockius of San Francisco) moderating and panelists Tax Court Judge David Gustafson, Keith Fogg of Harvard Law School, Mitch Hyman of IRS Chief Counsel, Professor Erin Stearns from the University of Denver LITC, and me (William Schmidt, Kansas Legal Services LITC).  We hope it is an innovative panel, bringing discussion of possible solutions to help taxpayers through the process.  It would be wonderful if the panel leads to further discussion that brings systemic change in CDP for the better.

The next episode will be posted following the conference.

Part of the tools the IRS uses in collecting amounts due from taxpayers are liens and levies.  It is easy for practitioners to get liens and levies confused, partly due to their similar names.  This is part two of a two-part series on liens and levies, focusing on levies.  The series dives into the nuances of liens and levies by using the presentation notes from the 2019 St. Louis, Missouri Congressional Liaison Meeting.

Part of the tools the IRS uses in collecting amounts due from taxpayers are liens and levies.  It is easy for practitioners to get liens and levies confused, partly due to their similar names.  This is part one of a two-part series on liens and levies, focusing on liens.  The series dives into the nuances of liens and levies by using the presentation notes from the 2019 St. Louis, Missouri Congressional Liaison Meeting.

IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig visited Kansas City this week and I got to visit with him.  The Congressional Liaison Meeting took place in St. Louis with presentations from TIGTA, the Taxpayer Advocate Service, Collections, and more.  Plus, there was a presentation including the IRS concerning identity theft.  I attended these meetings and give updates regarding those departments.

The Taxpayer First Act brought controversy recently in the House of Representatives as various people disagreed with the portion related to the IRS Free File program.  The program prevents the IRS from offering their own free tax filing service while for-profit tax companies provide their own free tax software as an alternative.  I think the Taxpayer First Act should be examined in full rather than focusing on that portion alone.  Also, the U.S. Supreme Court is due to hear oral arguments this month in North Carolina Department of Revenue v. the Kimberley Rice Kaestner 1992 Family Trust.  Learn about this state tax issue that brings taxes again before the U.S. Supreme Court.

I am covering a couple items in this episode.  First, I hosted a panel at Kansas City's main comic convention, Planet Comicon, called "Business and Legal Issues for Comic Creators."  I discuss some of the issues comic creators will face.  Next, I talk about the IRS webinar "Filing is the Thing to Do, Even if You Have a Balance Due" - what I agree with and what I do not.  Finally, the main issue I focus on is a recent blog posting by the National Taxpayer Advocate discussing improvements needed for IRS notices.  She believes the notices can be improved with scientific methods and simplified to increase understanding and clarity.  Do I agree?  Here's a spoiler: Yes!

Collection due process (CDP) allows taxpayers to be heard by IRS Appeals or request collection alternatives after receiving notice of a pending lien or levy.  Those who criticize CDP think it is an unnecessary bureaucratic step or a delaying tactic by taxpayers.  I will be on a panel at the American Bar Association Tax Section May Meeting in Washington, D.C.  The panel is a CDP Summit where we hope to come up with solutions for the parts that are not working rather than a session that complains about the CDP process in place.  As we prepare for the panel, I have researched and I am using this episode to explain the basics of CDP.

A discussion of parts of the LITC grant report. What items need to be tracked by each Low Income Taxpayer Clinic to be reported to the IRS? I give some tips on how to track numbers to make the grant report easier. Also, there are some odds and ends such as my attendance at the May Meeting for the ABA Tax Section. Come and meet me there!

Earlier this week was the Kansas Practitioner Liaison Meeting.  Departments from the IRS that provided updates included Stakeholder Liaisons, SPEC (Shareholder Partnership, Education & Communication), the Taxpayer Advocate Service, Field Collection, Field Examination, and Appeals.  Topics include the new due diligence preparer penalties, how to identify an IRS agent in the field, nominee/successor situations, Fast Track Settlement, and protective claims.