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One toll-free number for taxpayer
appeals;
and new filing addresses for future returns
By Kay
Bell • Bankrate.com
Taxpayers who want to appeal Internal Revenue
Service decisions or have questions about the process can now get
answers from the agency for free.
The IRS has established 1-877-457-5055 as its
unified, toll-free appeals help line. Previously, taxpayers had
to call one of the 33 nationwide Appeals Offices by dialing a local
number. For persons who lived outside the local calling area, that
meant paying a long-distance charge or opting not to call.
The consolidated help line, however, detects
the call's origination and automatically routes it to the nearest
Appeals office. For example, a caller in West Palm Beach, Fla.,
who dials the number will be connected, at no cost, with IRS appeals
agents in Miami.
The IRS appeals process began as a test program
in 1991 and was expanded nationally in 1998. According to the IRS,
the local Appeals Office is separate from and independent of the
IRS office that proposed any adjustment to your tax bill.
Appeals' agents are empowered to assist taxpayers
with concerns about the tax collection process, innocent spouse
relief, interest abatement procedures, refund claims and tax payment
issues. Appeals Office reviews are conducted informally, by correspondence,
telephone or in person, with the aim of settling most differences
without progressing to a court trial.
The IRS
Web site also has a special section dedicated to the
appeals
process.
IRS reorganization means new filing locations
Other contacts within the IRS will be changing,
too, thanks to the continued reorganization of the agency under
the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act.
The IRS has 10 service centers and is consolidating
and shifting responsibilities among them, including the receipt
and processing of tax returns, management of taxpayer accounts and
simple correspondence audits. This means that some taxpayers will
start sending their returns to a different address beginning with
the 2001 filing season.
The IRS is hoping that the agency's moves will
be invisible to most filers. An automated phone system will route
callers to the IRS toll-free number to the appropriate new offices
and specific notices will provide taxpayers with a number to call
for any questions.
The biggest change will be when taxpayers start
sending in 2001 returns. Currently, the service centers handle returns
for the geographic areas around them. Over the next two years, the
IRS will dedicate eight of the centers to the handling of individual
returns and two to dealing with business tax filings.
Because of the changing addresses, the IRS notes
that it will be even more critical for taxpayers filing the old-fashioned
paper way to use the pre-printed envelope that comes with the tax
package. Pertinent changes also will be detailed on computer tax
programs for taxpayers who choose to print out their returns and
mail them rather than file electronically.
For the 2001 filing season, the changes will
affect individual taxpayers in Alaska, Colorado, Delaware, Idaho,
Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Montana, Nebraska, Oregon, West Virginia
and Wyoming. Business filers in Arkansas, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa,
Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey,
North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Wisconsin and
the District of Columbia will see their returns going to a new service
center address.
The following year, individual taxpayers in
13 more states and businesses in an additional 18 states will have
new filing addresses. When the reorganization is complete, all business
returns will go to either the Ogden, Utah, or Cincinnati, Ohio,
service centers.
All individual returns will be handled in these
eight IRS centers:
- Andover, Mass.
- Atlanta, Ga.
- Austin, Texas
- Fresno, Calif.
- Kansas City, Mo.
- Memphis, Tenn.
- Philadelphia, Pa.
- Holtsville, N.Y.
-- Posted Nov. 6,
2000
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