NAEA Testifies on IRS Reform

On July 26, Phyllis Jo Kubey, EA testified on behalf of NAEA at the “Improving Tax Administration Today” hearing of the Senate Finance Committee Subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight. NAEA was the only tax professional organization invited to testify.
 
Ms. Kubey addressed the decline in level of IRS customer service in the past decade, noting that tax preparers are customers too. She also stressed the importance of secure technology solutions, and called for the IRS to “fast track creating tax practitioner online accounts with secure and robust communication capabilities in both directions.”
 
NAEA’s written testimony proposes major reforms for oversight, governance, budget, workforce, taxpayer service, technology, and IRS’ relationship with tax professionals. Recommendations from the “Future State” section include:
 
"The IRS should create a dedicated, executive-level practitioner services unit that would centralize and modernize its approach to all practitioners. All administration and oversight of third-party stakeholders (e.g., Circular 230 practitioners; unenrolled preparers; tax software providers; e-filing; payroll providers) would be consolidated under the new executive.
 
IRS should provide practitioners with a robust practitioner priority hotline (or hotlines) with higher-skilled employees who have the experience and training to understand and address more complex technical and procedural issues.
 
Under the practitioner services unit, the IRS should assign customer service representatives (also known as a single point of contact) to each geographic area to address unusual or complex issues that practitioners were unable to resolve through the priority hotlines."
 
Ms. Kubey’s five-minute testimony begins approximately 33 minutes into the recording.