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The concept of bill of rights is centuries old and has generally been defined as a formal declaration of individual rights and freedoms, usually issued by a national government, or a list of fundamental rights included in each state constitution. Nowadays, it is merely common sense that taxpayers have a bill of rights both at federal level, as well as states level.
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The IRS Taxpayer Bill of Rights has been enacted by the federal government since 1988.
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In 2014, the IRS incorporated the rights into a new version known as Publication 1, “ Your Rights as a Taxpayer,” which accompanies IRS correspondence with taxpayers. As you will see, the bill was modeled after the U.S. Constitution’s Bill of Rights and a document of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, and comprises ten broad provisions. |
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- According to the IRS, this doesn’t mean that taxpayers didn’t have these rights before, what the Bill of Rights does is take the multiple existing rights embedded in the tax code and group them into 10 broad categories, making them more visible and easier for taxpayers to find.
"The Taxpayer Bill of Rights contains fundamental information to help taxpayers," said IRS Commissioner John A. Koskinen. "These are core concepts about which taxpayers should be aware. Respecting taxpayer rights continues to be a top priority for IRS employees, and the new Taxpayer Bill of Rights summarizes these important protections in a clearer, more understandable format than ever before.”
In a nutshell, taxpayers have the right to know what they need to do to comply with tax laws. They are entitled to clear explanations of the law and IRS procedures in all tax forms, instructions, publications, notices, and correspondence. They have the right to be informed of IRS decisions about their tax accounts and to receive clear explanations of the outcomes.
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Below you can find the ten rights as they are outlined on the IRS website and a brief comment on how these rights reflect on your dealings with the IRS.
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1. The Right to Be Informed
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Any notice that you receive from the IRS should explain clearly why and what you need to do to comply with the tax law.
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| You have the right to be informed of IRS decisions about your tax accounts and to receive clear explanations of the outcomes. |
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2. The Right to Quality Service
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It is the IRS Mission Statement to provide America's taxpayers top quality service by helping them understand and meet their tax responsibilities and enforce the law with integrity and fairness to all.
You have the right to receive prompt, courteous, and professional assistance in your dealings with the IRS, to be spoken to in a way you can easily understand, to receive clear and easily understandable communications from the IRS, and to speak to a supervisor about inadequate service.
As a general rule, the IRS should only contact you between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. and should not contact you at your place of employment if the IRS knows or has reason to know that your employer does not allow such contacts.
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3. The Right to Pay No More than the Correct Amount of Tax
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You have the right to pay only the amount of tax legally due, including interest and penalties, and to have the IRS apply all tax payments properly.
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| 4. The Right to Challenge the IRS’s Position and Be Heard |
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| You have the right to raise objections and provide additional documentation in response to formal IRS actions or proposed actions, to expect that the IRS will consider your timely objections and documentation promptly and fairly, and to receive a response if the IRS does not agree with your position. |
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5. The Right to Appeal an IRS Decision in an Independent Forum
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You are entitled to a fair and impartial administrative appeal of most IRS decisions, including many penalties, and have the right to receive a written response regarding the Office of Appeals’ decision.
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| 6. The Right to Finality |
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You have the right to know the maximum amount of time you have to challenge the IRS’s position as well as the maximum amount of time the IRS has to audit a particular tax year or collect a tax debt. You have the right to know when the IRS has finished an audit.
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7. The Right to Privacy
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You have the right to expect that any IRS inquiry, examination, or enforcement action will comply with the law and be no more intrusive than necessary, and will respect all due process rights, including search and seizure protections and will provide, where applicable, a collection due process hearing.
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8. The Right to Confidentiality
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You have the right to expect that any information you provide to the IRS will not be disclosed unless authorized by the taxpayer or by law. You have the right to expect appropriate action will be taken against employees, return preparers, and others who wrongfully use or disclose taxpayer return information.
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| 9. The Right to Retain Representation |
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| You have the right to retain an authorized representative of your choice to represent you in your dealings with the IRS. You have the right to seek assistance from a Low Income Taxpayer Clinic if you cannot afford representation. |
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| 10.The Right to a Fair and Just Tax System |
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You have the right to expect the tax system to consider facts and circumstances that might affect your underlying liabilities, ability to pay, or ability to provide information timely. You have the right to receive assistance from the Taxpayer Advocate Service if you are experiencing financial difficulty or if the IRS has not resolved your tax issues properly and timely through its normal channels.
It is everybody’s hope that the IRS will continue to improve their service and relationship with American taxpayers. After all, the IRS collects an estimated 85.5% of what is owed, and 98% is collected voluntarily — that is, without the IRS taking special collection efforts through liens and other measures. By and large, people pay the taxes they owe.
But the complexity of the tax law means that people need help filling out their taxes, and the IRS is increasingly falling short of giving that help. According to the Taxpayer Advocate's 2013 report to Congress, last year the IRS received 109 million telephone calls, but only 61% of those seeking help got through. Average wait time: 17.6 minutes on hold, up from 2.6 minutes in 2004. The conclusion was that, in an effort to reduce
hold periods, the IRS will answer only basic tax questions, and not detailed ones, as of 2014. |
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As always, we advice you to enroll professional help in all your tax dealings. This will not only provide you with all the detailed answers you are seeking, but will also save you precious time and, more often than not, your money as well.
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