2021年10月7日

尊敬的珍妮特·耶伦
秘书

U. S. 财政部
西北宾夕法尼亚大道1500号
华盛顿特区，20220

黄金城电子娱乐网址国会
国会大厦
华盛顿特区20515

尊敬的先生们、女士们:

On behalf of the 全国注册代理人协会 (NAEA) and the approximately 58,它所代表的000名注册代理人(EAs), I write to you today to report on the state of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). It is with grave concern that based on input from front-line tax practitioners in the service of American taxpayers I must report to you the poor condition of the IRS. In fact, it should be considered broken and does not seem to be on track to be fixed any time soon.

While COVID-19 was the final blow in creating this situation, it was a gradual process brought about by a series of stress events on the IRS over the last decade which have chipped away at the foundation of our tax administration system. These events include political attacks from policymakers, 慢性病患病率, 政府关闭, and a wave of retirements of experienced employees and executives. The leadership seems at times to be frozen in indecision brought about by the changing winds of politics and lawyers that impede forward progress. All while Congress mandated the IRS to administer even more complex social service policies from healthcare to childcare and from individual economic income security programs to small business job retention programs, 很少或没有额外的资金.

We understand that our prognosis will not be popular, but we believe that policymakers deserve a clear-eyed understanding of the current problems at the agency. For the federal tax administration system to work smoothly, all parts of the agency must be able to effectively do their jobs. 目前, millions of tax returns – some as much as two years old – have still not been processed into the system. 黄金城电子娱乐网址国税局, 然而, has chosen to mail computer driven 通知及信件, 尽管不知道它们是否准确. 另外, we are hearing consistently that taxpayers who have filed for extensions are receiving non-filing letters from the agency. 进一步, many taxpayers are receiving nonsensical math error letters which causes unnecessary fear and anxiety, especially among the elderly and the low income.

From the perspective of seasoned tax practitioners, 解决这些, 还有其他问题, 现在已经几乎不可能实现了吗. 例如, only 9 percent of callers reaching out to the IRS for answers, 或者解决通知和信件, are able to reach a live customer service representative. 不幸的是, the situation for their tax representatives is not any better, as most are experiencing a four to eight business week delay in posting powers of attorney on the Centralized Authorization File (CAF). 取决于日期和时间, the dedicated Practitioner Priority Service lines are either busy, 离线, 或者需要90分钟才能连接.

While more funding is the first solution needed to fix our broken tax administration system, it also needs a concerted effort on the part of policymakers, 国税局的领导, and oversight groups like the General Accountability Office, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, and the Taxpayer Advocate to help steer the IRS back on track. Failure to fix the pipeline at each level – return processing, 通知及信件, 电话和CAF, and collection – will continue to harm taxpayers and endanger tax collection going forward.

一如既往地, the 全国注册代理人协会 stands ready to work with Congress, 财政部, and the Internal Revenue Service to protect and improve our system of collecting taxes.

大卫·W. Tolleth
总统
全国注册代理人协会