Report (2021-03-04)
- Document type
- report
- Date
- 2021-03-04
Summary
An interim audit report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, issued March 4, 2021 as Report Number 2021-16-019, addressed to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. It assesses the Taxpayer Advocate Service's actions to assist taxpayers in response to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, Pub. L. No. 116-136. The report states that as of October 21, 2020 more than 450 systemic issues related to COVID-19 had been submitted, that TAS initiated 16 CARES Act-related Systemic Advocacy projects, and that more than 2,800 CARES Act cases were opened in Fiscal Year 2020. It describes a Proposed Taxpayer Advocate Directive issued June 16, 2020 on Economic Impact Payment errors. The report makes no recommendations and includes appendices on objective, scope and methodology and on abbreviations.
Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used
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TREASURY INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR TAX ADMINISTRATION
Interim Report – Taxpayer Advocate Service
Actions to Assist Taxpayers in Response to
the Implementation of the Coronavirus Aid,
Relief, and Economic Security Act
March 4, 2021
Report Number: 2021-16-019
TIGTACommunications@tigta.treas.gov | www.treasury.gov/tigta
1
HIGHLIGHTS: Interim Report – Taxpayer Advocate Service Actions to Assist Taxpayers in
Response to the Implementation of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act
Interim Audit Report issued on March 4, 2021 Report Number 2021-16-019
Why TIGTA Did This Audit What TIGTA Found
This audit is one in a series of TAS has taken numerous actions to assist taxpayers in response to
audits being conducted by TIGTA the enactment of the CARES Act. This includes identifying and
as part of our oversight role of addressing CARES Act issues affecting large groups of taxpayers
the IRS’s response to the (Systemic Advocacy) and assisting individual taxpayers (Case
coronavirus pandemic, including Advocacy), as well as taking other actions to educate and assist
implementation of the applicable taxpayers during the pandemic.
Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and
After the IRS began issuing the EIPs on April 10, 2020, in response to
Economic Security Act (CARES
the CARES Act, TAS started receiving reports of EIP-related issues
Act) provisions. Our overall
affecting large groups of taxpayers. As of October 21, 2020, more
objective was to assess the
than 450 systemic issues related to Coronavirus Disease 2019 had
Taxpayer Advocate Service’s (TAS)
been submitted on the system TAS uses to track issues affecting
actions to assist taxpayers in
multiple taxpayers, and TAS has initiated 16 CARES Act-related
response to the implementation
Systemic Advocacy projects as a result. TAS officials stated that the
of the CARES Act.
largest category of these issues relate to the EIPs. In addition, TAS
TIGTA is issuing this interim audit issued a Proposed Taxpayer Advocate Directive in June 2020
report to provide information directing the IRS to immediately develop a process to correct
about TAS’s initial actions to assist EIP errors for instances in which an eligible individual had not
taxpayers with CARES Act issues. received his or her EIP or had not received the correct amount.
TIGTA plans to issue a subsequent Subsequently, the IRS has taken action to systemically correct errors
report later in Calendar Year 2021 affecting certain groups of taxpayers.
that will supplement the
In addition to its efforts involving Systemic Advocacy, TAS has made
information in this report as well
efforts to assist individual taxpayers with EIP-related issues. TAS
as information on how TAS plans
initially accepted cases related solely to EIP issues but issued
to spend funding it received to
guidance on May 14, 2020, indicating it would no longer accept
cover pandemic-related costs.
these cases. TIGTA reviewed a judgmental sample of these cases and
Impact on Taxpayers determined that case advocates were unable to assist most taxpayers
with EIP issues because TAS employees lacked the capabilities to
Soon after the IRS began issuing
resolve EIP problems on individual accounts. As the IRS began
Economic Impact Payments (EIP)
implementing processes to fix certain EIP issues, TAS started
in response to the CARES Act,
accepting some EIP-related cases on August 10, 2020. TAS records
TAS started receiving reports of
indicate that more than 2,800 CARES Act cases were opened in Fiscal
EIP-related issues. TAS’s statutory
Year 2020.
mission is to assist taxpayers in
resolving tax problems with the To further its efforts to keep the public informed about CARES Act
IRS, identify areas in which issues, TAS has also frequently updated its blogs and used social
taxpayers have problems with the media accounts to disseminate information to taxpayers.
IRS, and make administrative and Furthermore, as part of an IRS-wide team, TAS has provided
legislative recommendations to suggestions and recommendations for frequently asked questions
mitigate tax problems. and answers, taxpayer communications, and Internet content. In
addition, TAS provided additional funding to Low Income Taxpayer
Clinics to allow the clinics to continue to assist taxpayers during the
pandemic.
What TIGTA Recommended
This report was prepared to provide interim information only.
Therefore, no recommendations were made in this report.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20220
TREASURY INSPECTOR GENERAL
FOR TAX ADMINISTRATION
March 4, 2021
MEMORANDUM FOR: COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE
FROM: Michael E. McKenney
Deputy Inspector General for Audit
SUBJECT: Interim Report - Taxpayer Advocate Service Actions to Assist Taxpayers
in Response to the Implementation of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and
Economic Security Act
(Audit # 202010623)
This report presents the interim results of our review to assess the Taxpayer Advocate Service’s
actions to assist taxpayers in response to the implementation of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and
Economic Security Act. 1 This review is part of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax
Administation’s oversight of the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) response to the coronavirus
pandemic and is included in our Fiscal Year 2021 Annual Audit Plan. It addresses the major
management and performance challenge of Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
This report was prepared to provide information only. Therefore, we made no
recommendations in the report. However, we provided IRS management officials with an
advance copy of this report for review and comment prior to issuance.
Copies of this report are also being sent to the IRS managers affected by the report information.
If you have any questions, please contact me or Heather M. Hill, Assistant Inspector General for
Audit (Management Services and Exempt Organizations).
1
Pub. L. No. 116-136, 134 Stat. 281.
Interim Report – Taxpayer Advocate Service Actions to Assist Taxpayers in
Response to the Implementation of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act
Table of Contents
Background .....................................................................................................................................Page 1
Results of Review .......................................................................................................................Page 2
The Taxpayer Advocate Service Focused on Identifying
and Addressing Systemic Issues Affecting Large Groups
of Taxpayers ...........................................................................................................................Page 2
The Taxpayer Advocate Service Could Not Assist
Individual Taxpayers Until Other Functions Established
Processes to Correct Economic Impact Payments...................................................Page 5
The Taxpayer Advocate Service Launched Other
Initiatives to Educate and Assist Taxpayers ................................................................Page 7
Appendices
Appendix I – Detailed Objective, Scope, and Methodology ................................Page 9
Appendix II – Abbreviations .............................................................................................Page 11
Interim Report – Taxpayer Advocate Service Actions to Assist Taxpayers in
Response to the Implementation of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act
Background
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) 1 was enacted on
March 27, 2020, and is the largest economic rescue package in U.S. history, providing for
more than $2 trillion in economic relief. The Act was passed in response to the Coronavirus
Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak and its impact on the economy, public health, State and local
governments, individuals, and businesses.
The CARES Act contains numerous tax-related provisions affecting individuals and businesses
and appropriates approximately $750 million in additional funding to the Internal Revenue
Service (IRS) to administer and oversee these provisions. One of the significant CARES Act
provisions involves the issuance of recovery rebates, also referred to as Economic Impact
Payments (EIP), of $1,200 per individual ($2,400 to couples filing a joint return), and $500 for
each qualifying dependent. The payments were to be issued to all U.S. residents with income
below certain threshold amounts who met certain other criteria, such as having a work-eligible
Social Security Number. Figure 1 shows highlights of some of the significant CARES Act
provisions affecting individuals and businesses.
Figure 1: Highlights of CARES Act Provisions
Source: Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) analysis of the CARES Act.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the IRS took unprecedented actions to protect the
health and safety of its employees and the taxpaying public. This included closing Tax
Processing Centers, Taxpayer Assistance Centers, and other IRS offices nationwide. On
March 30, 2020, the IRS issued an evacuation order directing all employees whose work was
portable or could be worked off-site to work from home (or an alternate location). Because
some of the work performed by the IRS cannot be worked off-site, various actions (processing
paper tax returns, receiving and responding to correspondence, etc.) came to a halt and,
consequently, resulted in significant burden to taxpayers.
As part of the IRS, the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) has the responsibility to help taxpayers
resolve problems with the IRS, identify administrative and legislative causes of those problems,
1
Pub. L. No. 116-136, 134 Stat. 281.
Page 1
Interim Report – Taxpayer Advocate Service Actions to Assist Taxpayers in
Response to the Implementation of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act
and make recommendations to the IRS and Congress on how to mitigate the problems.
TAS employees work in one of three main areas: Systemic Advocacy, Case Advocacy, or the
Headquarters offices. Systemic Advocacy is charged with resolving IRS systemic problems that
affect large groups of taxpayers, whereas Case Advocacy assists individual taxpayers in resolving
tax problems. The Headquarters office oversees the overall administration of TAS functions.
Once the national emergency was declared in March 2020, the Acting National Taxpayer
Advocate (NTA) directed all telework-ready TAS employees (in accordance with IRS protocols) to
perform full-time work from their designated telework location. Additionally, TAS enabled other
employees (such as telephone-line personnel) to work remotely in an effort to continue
TAS operations to the fullest extent possible. However, many of the IRS personnel who
ordinarily work with case advocates were initially unavailable to provide assistance due to the
closure of IRS facilities. 2 Further complicating matters, the onset of the pandemic occurred in
the midst of a filing season, which is typically the busiest time of year for the IRS.
This audit is one in a series of audits being conducted by TIGTA as part of our oversight role of
the IRS’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, including implementation of the applicable
CARES Act provisions. 3 TIGTA is issuing this interim audit report to provide information about
TAS’s initial actions to assist taxpayers with CARES Act issues. We plan to issue a subsequent
report later in Calendar Year 2021. This subsequent report will provide updates to the
information in this report as well as information on how TAS plans to use the nearly $3.3 million
it received to cover pandemic-related costs.
Results of Review
TAS has taken numerous actions to assist taxpayers in response to the enactment of the
CARES Act. This included identifying and addressing CARES Act issues affecting large groups of
taxpayers (Systemic Advocacy) and assisting individual taxpayers (Case Advocacy), as well as
taking other actions to educate and assist taxpayers during the pandemic.
The Taxpayer Advocate Service Focused on Identifying and Addressing
Systemic Issues Affecting Large Groups of Taxpayers
Soon after the IRS began issuing the EIPs, TAS started receiving reports of EIP-related issues
affecting multiple taxpayers. Based on the systemic issues TAS identified, TAS directed the IRS
to promptly develop processes to assist individual taxpayers with EIP issues. Subsequently, the
IRS took action to systemically correct errors affecting certain groups of taxpayers. In addition,
TAS has initiated 16 Systemic Advocacy projects to address EIP and other CARES Act issues.
2
TAS case advocates work with employees from other IRS functions who make final substantive decisions and input
most account adjustments. According to the IRM, TAS employees cannot take actions on cases that are open in
another IRS function or to overrule determinations made by employees of other IRS functions who have been
delegated comparable authority.
3
TIGTA, 2021 Annual Audit Plan.
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Interim Report – Taxpayer Advocate Service Actions to Assist Taxpayers in
Response to the Implementation of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act
TAS directed the IRS to create processes to assist taxpayers experiencing issues with the
EIPs
The IRS began issuing EIPs on April 10, 2020, and TAS Systemic Advocacy started receiving
reports of EIP-related problems soon thereafter on the Systemic Advocacy Management System
(SAMS), which is a system available to IRS employees and the public to report systemic
problems to TAS. 4 As the magnitude of the problems increased, members of Congress and TAS
began pressing IRS operations to establish policies to resolve these issues.
On June 16, 2020, the NTA issued a Proposed Taxpayer Advocate Directive to the Commissioner,
Wage and Investment Division, directing the IRS to immediately develop a process to correct
EIP errors for instances in which an eligible individual had not received his or her EIP or had not
received the correct amount. 5 The NTA recommended that the IRS work toward solutions and
alternatives to ensure that all individuals receive the EIP in its entirety in Calendar Year 2020,
rather than having to wait until Calendar Year 2021 to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit 6 when
they file their Tax Year (TY) 2020 tax returns. 7
IRS officials responded to the proposed Directive indicating they were developing processes to
correct some payments systemically, offering assistance to taxpayers whose payments could be
corrected manually, and providing information to taxpayers whose EIPs would need to be
reconciled during the processing of TY 2020 tax returns. Subsequently, the IRS has taken action
to systemically correct errors affecting certain groups of taxpayers. For example, the IRS
identified and issued the EIPs to individuals who used the Non-Filer Tool and claimed at least
one qualifying child, but did not receive the qualifying child portion of the EIP due to a
programming error.8
TAS has initiated projects to address ongoing systemic issues associated with the
CARES Act
The IRS took numerous actions in response to the Proposed Taxpayer Advocate Directive, and
most of the significant issues have been addressed. The EIPs were intended to provide
immediate relief to taxpayers affected by the pandemic; however, some taxpayers will not
receive the EIP until their TY 2020 tax returns are filed. For example, the EIPs were not issued to
individuals (for themselves or their dependent children, if any) if they filed a joint return in
TY 2019 (or TY 2018 if the TY 2019 tax return had not yet been filed) with a spouse who did not
have a valid Social Security Number. These individuals will have to wait until Calendar Year 2021
and then file a TY 2020 tax return to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit.
4
The SAMS is overseen by TAS’s Systemic Advocacy group. Both internal (e.g., IRS employees) and external
(e.g., taxpayers) submitters can use the SAMS to report systemic issues that adversely affect taxpayers. The issues put
on the SAMS are reviewed by employees in the Systemic Issue Review and Evaluation group. The goal is to resolve
the systemic issue (problem), and this often involves recommendations to change IRS procedures and processes.
5
Taxpayer Advocate Directives mandate that IRS functional areas make certain administrative or procedural changes
to improve a process or grant relief to groups of taxpayers (or all taxpayers).
6
The EIPs were issued as advance payments of the Recovery Rebate Credit. Eligible individuals who did not receive
the full EIP amount may claim the Recovery Rebate Credit on their Tax Year 2020 tax return.
7
A 12-month accounting period for keeping records on income and expenses used as the basis for calculating the
annual taxes due. For most individual taxpayers, the tax year is synonymous with the calendar year.
8
The Non-Filer Tool was accessible on the IRS.gov website and was a system that enabled individuals who had not
filed a TY 2018 or 2019 tax return to register to receive the EIPs.
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Interim Report – Taxpayer Advocate Service Actions to Assist Taxpayers in
Response to the Implementation of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act
TAS is aware of these ongoing issues. In the Fiscal Year 9 2021 Objectives Report to Congress, 10
the NTA stated that one of TAS’s highest priorities is to reduce taxpayer burden resulting from
the IRS’s implementation of the CARES Act. 11 The NTA highlighted several current and
anticipated problems that TAS intends to work with the IRS to address, such as identifying
potential systemic delays in processing refund claims (e.g., those arising from net operating
loss carrybacks).
To identify and address systemic issues, TAS created a COVID-19 Rapid Response Team shortly
after the enactment of the CARES Act. The Rapid Response Team addresses questions about
the impact of the virus on tax administration and includes members from various functions
within TAS to respond to a wide variety of issues identified on the SAMS.
TAS management informed us that, between March 1, 2020, and October 21, 2020, more than
450 potential systemic issues related to COVID-19 were submitted through the SAMS, and the
largest category involves problems with the issuance of the EIPs. TAS considers an issue to be a
systemic problem if the impact affects multiple taxpayers; involves IRS systems, policies, or
procedures; or affects taxpayer rights, increases burden, causes disparate treatment, or involves
essential taxpayer services. Once an issue is submitted through the SAMS, it generally goes
through a three-stage review process to determine how best to address the concern raised.
Based on this review, TAS may identify a systemic issue in need of attention and create one of
three types of projects to address the issue.
1. Information Gathering Projects are used to identify emerging trends or issues
generated from new legislation or significant IRS policy, process, or procedural changes.
2. Immediate Intervention Projects are the result of an operational issue that causes
immediate, significant harm to multiple taxpayers and demands an urgent response.
3. Advocacy Projects are used to identify and address systemic and procedural issues,
analyze the underlying causes of problems, and propose corrective actions.
As of October 30, 2020, TAS Systemic Advocacy created 16 CARES Act–related projects
(14 Information Gathering Projects and two Advocacy Projects). Figure 2 shows examples of
several of these projects.
9
A fiscal year is any yearly accounting period, regardless of its relationship to a calendar year. The Federal
Government’s fiscal year begins on October 1 and ends on September 30.
10
TAS, Objectives Report to Congress Fiscal Year 2021 (June 29, 2020).
11
Internal Revenue Code Section 7803(c)(2)(B) requires the NTA to submit two reports each year to the Committee on
Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate. One of these reports
is the Objectives Report to Congress.
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Interim Report – Taxpayer Advocate Service Actions to Assist Taxpayers in
Response to the Implementation of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act
Figure 2: Examples of TAS CARES Act Projects
CARES Act Project Issue Description
This project pertains to instances in which a nonliable spouse’s portion
of the EIP (or the entire EIP) was offset to the liable spouse’s child
EIP Injured Spouse Claims
support debt, regardless of whether an injured spouse claim
was filed. 12
This project involves taxpayers who used the Non-Filer Tool on the
IRS.gov website and claimed at least one qualifying child but did
Non-Filer Tool Dependent EIP
not receive the qualifying child portion of the EIP because of a
programming error.
This project involves instances in which a programming issue
erroneously marked the "Spouse can be claimed on someone else’s
Checkbox Issues
return" checkbox on some electronically filed tax returns for taxpayers
with a Single filing status, preventing the issuance of an EIP.
This project involves the EIPs that were scheduled to be issued via
EIP Debit Cards Not Issued prepaid debit cards but were not issued to taxpayers residing in
certain States.
Source: TIGTA description of several TAS CARES Act–related projects.
As of December 21, 2020, Systemic Advocacy officials had completed their actions and closed
six of the 16 projects when they determined that the IRS had implemented corrective actions to
resolve the problem or TAS identified alternative ways to address the issues. We will continue to
evaluate the actions taken to resolve these issues and report on the status of corrections in a
subsequent report.
The Taxpayer Advocate Service Could Not Assist Individual Taxpayers
Until Other Functions Established Processes to Correct Economic
Impact Payments
In addition to its efforts involving Systemic Advocacy, the TAS has made efforts to assist
individual taxpayers with EIP-related issues. However, TAS capabilities to resolve EIP-related
issues were initially limited as other IRS functions had no processes and procedures in place to
resolve most issues. As other IRS functions began implementing processes to fix EIP issues, TAS
started accepting certain EIP cases on August 10, 2020.
The IRS acted quickly to administer the main provisions of the CARES Act, specifically concerning
the EIPs. 13 While the process was mostly successful, problems involving certain groups of
taxpayers became apparent early in the process. This included:
12
Based on our review, this issue was associated with one of the most common COVID-19–related issues
submitted through the SAMS as of October 21, 2020. Per the Objectives Report to Congress, there were more than
800,000 instances in which the nonliable spouse’s portion of the EIP was offset to the liable spouse’s child support
debt. The EIPs based on joint tax returns were deemed to be a 50/50 percent allocation due to each spouse.
13
TIGTA, Ref. No 2020-46-041, Interim Results of the 2020 Filing Season: Effect of COVID-19 Shutdown on Tax
Processing and Customer Service Operations and Assessment of Efforts to Implement Legislation Provisions
(June 2020).
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Interim Report – Taxpayer Advocate Service Actions to Assist Taxpayers in
Response to the Implementation of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act
• Payments that were erroneously offset to child support debts.
• Nonreceipt of payments for qualifying children.
• Payments that were lost, stolen, or sent to an incorrect address or bank account.
While taxpayers were contacting TAS for assistance, case advocates could not always assist
individual taxpayers in the resolution of EIP issues because other functions within the IRS had
not developed processes to manually adjust taxpayer accounts to correct EIP amounts. On
May 14, 2020, the Deputy NTA issued guidance to employees stating that TAS would not accept
cases related solely to EIP issues because TAS assistance would not expedite or improve current
EIP processing.14
We reviewed TAS cases that were created on the Taxpayer Advocate Management Information
System (TAMIS) prior to TAS’s decision to not accept cases related solely to EIP issues and
determined that TAS’s decision to not accept certain EIP cases was justified based on the
circumstances, but the use of the code established to denote whether cases were related to the
CARES Act could be improved. 15
• We reviewed a judgmental sample of 25 of 51 TAS cases that were 1) created prior to the
decision to not accept certain EIP cases and 2) coded on the TAMIS as being related to
the CARES Act. Based on our review, we determined that TAS’s decision was justified as
TAS employees lacked the capabilities to resolve EIP problems on individual accounts. 16
• We reviewed all TAS cases related to TY 2020 that were created prior to the decision to
no longer accept certain EIP cases but were not coded on the TAMIS as being related to
the CARES Act. We determined that 70 of the 119 cases involved CARES Act issues (EIPs)
but were not correctly coded as such. TAS management agreed that these 70 cases
should have included the CARES Act code and stated that they would correct the case
coding on the TAMIS. They also advised that they provided EIP training in October 2020
and posted an article to the TAS SharePoint site on November 19, 2020, further
instructing employees on how and why to add the CARES Act code to cases on the
TAMIS. Proper TAMIS coding helps identify trends affecting taxpayers, and inaccurate
data preclude team leaders in TAS Systemic Advocacy from identifying Case Advocacy
trends as instructed in the Internal Revenue Manual. 17
In August 2020, the NTA announced that the IRS was in the process of implementing program
changes and establishing procedures to manually correct certain account issues. As such, TAS
would start accepting more cases involving EIP issues. This includes:
• Unresolved lost/missing/undeliverable EIPs.
14
However, the guidance also noted that TAS would continue to assist taxpayers in instances in which the EIP was
delayed due to problems stemming from a TY 2018 or TY 2019 return. These issues (such as identity theft) typically
affect both the taxpayer’s original refund and the EIP.
15
The TAMIS is an Oracle web-based inventory control and report system used to control and track TAS cases and
provide management information. In April 2020, TAS created a code to identify certain CARES Act cases on the
TAMIS and instructed employees to use the code when the taxpayer’s inquiry involves the EIP or the employer credits
for paid sick leave and employee retention.
16
A judgmental sample is a nonprobability sample, the results of which cannot be used to project to the population.
17
The primary, official source of IRS instructions to staff related to the organization, administration, and operation of
the IRS.
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Interim Report – Taxpayer Advocate Service Actions to Assist Taxpayers in
Response to the Implementation of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act
• Math errors affecting the EIP amount. 18
• The EIPs returned by the taxpayer (e.g., ineligible, religious objection, etc.).
• The EIPs returned by joint filers of which one spouse is ineligible, e.g., deceased or
incarcerated.
• Unprocessed injured spouse claims associated with the tax return used to calculate the
EIP (TYs 2019 or 2018, as applicable) or secured by TAS.
Based on our review of the TAMIS, TAS opened more than 2,800 CARES Act–related cases in
Fiscal Year 2020. TAS continued to receive cases through November 24, 2020, when TAS revised
its policy to stop accepting cases related solely to EIP issues to comply with the statutory
requirement that EIPs had to be issued before December 31, 2020. In our subsequent report,
we will review CARES Act cases created since TAS began accepting more EIP cases in
August 2020, as well as follow up on the case coding issues we discussed in this report.
The Taxpayer Advocate Service Launched Other Initiatives to Educate and
Assist Taxpayers
TAS has made several efforts to educate taxpayers during the
pandemic. Beginning in March 2020, TAS frequently posted TAS used social media
informational blogs (in English and Spanish) on CARES Act issues. accounts such as Facebook,
Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube
These blogs alerted the public about forthcoming actions (e.g., the
to disseminate information to
issuance of back-logged notices) and provided advice on how to
the public.
speed up receipt of the EIPs. TAS also used social media accounts
including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube to disseminate
information to taxpayers.
In addition, TAS supported the IRS as a member of the IRS’s Service-wide COVID-19
communications team, and provided suggestions and recommendations for frequently asked
questions and answers, taxpayer communications, and Internet content from an advocacy and
taxpayer rights perspective. To protect taxpayers’ rights due to IRS office closures related to
COVID-19, TAS also participates in Correspondence Recovery Team efforts to keep taxpayers
informed about payments and appeals during the pandemic.
In addition to educational activities, the TAS has also taken action to assist taxpayers through its
Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC) Program Office. On March 16, 2020, the TAS LITC Program
Office launched an initiative to assist clinics during the pandemic. 19 The Acting NTA approved a
request from the LITC Program Office for additional funds to be made available to clinics in
order for them to accommodate remote teleworking. The funds were intended to help several
clinics obtain needed equipment such as laptops, cell phones, printer/scanner/fax machines, and
18
A math error is a program in which the IRS contacts taxpayers through the mail or by telephone when it identifies
mathematical errors or mismatches of taxpayer information that would result in a tax change.
19
The LITC Program is a Federal matching grant program providing up to $100,000 per year, generally to nonprofit
and legal service/legal aid organizations and academic institutions. The LITCs represent taxpayers whose income is
below a certain level in tax disputes with the IRS. The LITCs educate taxpayers who are low income or speak English
as a second language about their rights and responsibilities. LITCs identify and advocate for issues that affect these
taxpayers, are independent from the IRS, and offer services for free or a nominal fee.
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Interim Report – Taxpayer Advocate Service Actions to Assist Taxpayers in
Response to the Implementation of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act
software to enable them to continue assisting taxpayers during the national emergency. As of
April 30, 2020, TAS had disbursed funds totaling $90,000, in addition to grant money previously
awarded, to 21 clinics.
Additionally, the LITC Program Office initiated a request to IRS leadership asking permission to
allow clinics to prepare tax returns to assist taxpayers who could not access free tax sites. The
IRS Commissioner granted the request (dated April 13, 2020) for a temporary Safe-Harbor
exception thru October 15, 2020, and has since extended the exception through October 2021. 20
According to TAS officials, the Safe-Harbor request was initiated to facilitate the LITCs in
assisting individuals who were entitled to receive the EIPs. 21 They indicated that numerous LITCs
requested the exception from the governing rules, which limit the circumstances under which
the LITCs can prepare tax returns. 22 As such, the Safe-Harbor exception allows clinics to
temporarily prepare tax returns for low-income and English-as-a-second-language individuals
who may be eligible to receive the EIPs.
We will continue to report on TAS initiatives to educate and assist taxpayers in our subsequent
report.
20
A Safe-Harbor is a provision in the law that affords protection from liability or penalty when certain conditions
are met.
21
The request was limited to Filing Year 2019 and was intended to facilitate the LITCs in assisting English and
English-as-a-second-language taxpayers with preparation of their TY 2019 tax returns so that individuals who were
eligible to receive the EIPs could receive them.
22
The governing rules are outlined in IRS Publication 3319, Low Income Taxpayer Clinic Grant Application Package
and Guidelines.
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Interim Report – Taxpayer Advocate Service Actions to Assist Taxpayers in
Response to the Implementation of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act
Appendix I
Detailed Objective, Scope, and Methodology
The overall objective of this review was to assess TAS’s actions to assist taxpayers in response to
the implementation of the CARES Act. To accomplish our objective, we:
• Identified actions taken by TAS to assist taxpayers with CARES Act–related issues.
• Selected and reviewed a judgmental sample of 25 of the 51 CARES Act cases received
between the enactment of the CARES Act (March 27, 2020) and the date when the TAS
issued guidance that it would no longer accept cases related solely to EIP issues
(May 14, 2020). 1 We reviewed these cases to determine if case advocates were able to
resolve taxpayer issues. We selected a judgmental sample because we did not intend to
project our results to the population.
• Selected and reviewed all 119 cases related to TY 2020 in the TAMIS that were not coded
as involving the CARES Act between when TAS established the CARES Act code
(April 14, 2020) and the date when TAS issued guidance that it would no longer accept
cases related solely to EIP issues (May 14, 2020). We reviewed these cases to determine
if the cases were coded correctly.
• Obtained information regarding 16 CARES Act–related Systemic Advocacy projects for
the period ending October 30, 2020.
Performance of This Review
This review was performed with information obtained from the NTA Headquarters office located
in Washington, D.C., and other TAS locations throughout the United States during the period
June through December 2020. We conducted this performance audit in accordance with
generally accepted government auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and
perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis
for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objective. We believe that the
evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on
our audit objective.
Major contributors to the report were Heather Hill, Assistant Inspector General for Audit
(Management Services and Exempt Organizations); Troy Paterson, Director; Melinda Dowdy,
Audit Manager; Mary Herberger, Lead Auditor; and Yasmin Ryan, Senior Auditor.
Validity and Reliability of Data From Computer-Based Systems
We performed tests to assess the reliability of data obtained from the TAMIS. We evaluated the
data by reviewing fields for reasonableness and matching the data to statistical information
provided by the TAS. We determined that the data were sufficiently reliable for the purposes of
this report.
1
A judgmental sample is a nonprobability sample, the results of which cannot be used to project to the population.
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Interim Report – Taxpayer Advocate Service Actions to Assist Taxpayers in
Response to the Implementation of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act
We also performed tests to assess the reliability of data from the SAMS. We evaluated the data
by reviewing fields for reasonableness and comparing the data to information provided by the
TAS. We determined that the data were sufficiently reliable for the purposes of this report.
Internal Controls Methodology
Internal controls relate to management’s plans, methods, and procedures used to meet their
mission, goals, and objectives. Internal controls include the processes and procedures for
planning, organizing, directing, and controlling program operations. They include the systems
for measuring, reporting, and monitoring program performance. We determined that the
following internal controls were relevant to our audit objective: TAS policies, procedures, and
practices for identifying and processing individual CARES Act cases on the TAMIS and systemic
issues submitted on the SAMS. We evaluated these controls by interviewing TAS management,
reviewing internal and external guidance and the applicable sections of the Internal Revenue
Manual, reviewing a judgmental sample of cases coded as being related to the CARES Act, and
reviewing cases that were not coded as being related to the CARES Act.
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Interim Report – Taxpayer Advocate Service Actions to Assist Taxpayers in
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Appendix II
Abbreviations
CARES Act Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act
COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease 2019
EIP Economic Impact Payment
IRS Internal Revenue Service
LITC Low Income Taxpayer Clinic
NTA National Taxpayer Advocate
SAMS Systemic Advocacy Management System
TAMIS Taxpayer Advocate Management Information System
TAS Taxpayer Advocate Service
TIGTA Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration
TY Tax Year
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To report fraud, waste, or abuse,
call our toll-free hotline at:
(800) 366-4484
By Web:
www.treasury.gov/tigta/
Or Write:
Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration
P.O. Box 589
Ben Franklin Station
Washington, D.C. 20044-0589
Information you provide is confidential, and you may remain anonymous.
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