IRS, in a Switch, to Host 1-Day Open-Door Sessions

WASHINGTON —  In response to an outpouring of taxpayer wrath in Senate hearings last week, the Internal Revenue Service announced Tuesday that it will open its doors across the nation Nov. 15 to any taxpayer with a complaint.

All 33 IRS district directors, including those in downtown Los Angeles and Laguna Niguel, have been ordered to meet in person with the public in an unprecedented effort to relieve taxpayer frustration.

The agency plans to continue hosting such open-door complaint sessions once a month, said Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin in an answer to critics who have disparaged the IRS as an insulated bureaucracy.

Arrangements for the coast-to-coast event--dubbed National IRS Problem-Solving Day--are still being made but IRS officials insisted that they would have more than enough staff on hand to deal with those who come and do not expect long lines.

“Taxpayers will be able to go to 33 locations around the country to discuss their problems face-to-face with IRS personnel,” Rubin said. “We will then hold a similar day once each month, which will give taxpayers a chance individually to resolve the problems long before they reach [what] we saw last week.”

In public hearings, the Senate Finance Committee heard from four taxpayers who were hounded in error for as much as 17 years by IRS agents. Agency officials issued a public apology and acknowledged that serious errors had occurred.

Acting IRS Commissioner Michael P. Dolan said Tuesday that the agency has suspended four managers while it investigates the cases of abuse and mistreatment. Dolan, who appeared with Rubin at a press conference at IRS headquarters, gave no details of the disciplinary action.

“A permanent discipline, if warranted, will occur after the investigation is complete,” Dolan said.

Dolan also released a letter asking Congress’ General Accounting Office to help investigate allegations of illegal and unethical abuse of taxpayers raised in the hearings.

The complaint sessions mark a significant departure from traditional IRS practice. In the past, the public seldom has had personal contact with the agency--unless an asset seizure for delinquent taxes was involved.

Similarly, IRS district directors have maintained a low profile in the communities where they serve, despite wielding enormous power. A district director, for example, can order with his signature the seizure of a family’s home.

The complaint sessions are meant to bring district directors in closer contact with the public so that they can understand better where the tax system has gone astray, Dolan said.

“I want them to understand the problems that are being confronted,” he said.

Nov. 15 was selected because it falls on Saturday, a day when most taxpayers can deal with their problems without missing work, IRS officials said.

In some of the more crowded urban areas, including New York City and Los Angeles, the IRS may institute a reservation system to handle complaints, while in less crowded districts, taxpayers will be free to simply walk in, IRS officials said.

An IRS official in Los Angeles said that the office does not know how it will handle the sessions and does not have a telephone number for taxpayers to call for information.

IRS officials acknowledged that they are unsure how big a turnout to expect. The agency handles 115 million individual tax returns each year, meaning that each district office has more than 3 million taxpayers. If even a small percentage have complaints, a large throng could show up.

But the agency noted that 75% of taxpayers file relatively simple tax returns and receive tax refunds, indicating that the vast majority of Americans have no complaint.