Many Americans are going through the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Appeals process. Often times the Appeals offices are located far from the Taxpayer’s home. So, the IRS has an option to conduct the conference by telephone. But, this is not the ideal option for those that prefer face-to-face interaction and want to be humanized by the IRS, when possible. There is now a solution for those that cannot travel long distances to the IRS office, but wish to have the face-to-face impact.
The IRS is offering a new virtual service technology, which will allow you to resolve your tax disputes via video conference. Not only is this convenient for Taxpayers, but also with hundreds of thousands of taxpayers attempting to meet with an Appeals Officer, this speeds up the process and makes it more efficient for all parties involved (as long as they have internet access). Since this would be a web-based model, there is potential for screen-sharing which adds access and convenience to its list of pros.
As IRS Chief, Appeals Donna Hansberry stated, “In the future, the technology may give taxpayers greater options in engaging with Appeals and could allow us the flexibility to serve taxpayers virtually from any location using mobile devices or computers.”
The IRS started the pilot program on Aug. 1, 2017, with hopes that it enables taxpayers to exercise their right to appeal an IRS decision and get adequate service throughout the process. All while preserving one of the fundamental rights of the Taxpayer, which is that the appeal officer must be objective and offer an impartial view of the dispute in an effort to come to a fair resolution.
For a complete list of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, see Publication 1, Your Rights as a Taxpayer, available on IRS.gov.