What is the Taxpayer Advocate Service and what does he or she do?

The Taxpayer Advocate’s office is a special position set up after the congressional hearings on the IRS revealed problems in how the IRS sometimes treats taxpayers.  There is a national taxpayer advocate office and also one in each state.  In general, I contact this office when I have tried to deal with my client’s problem and cannot get a satisfactory response from the IRS.  The taxpayer advocate will contact supervisors or administrators on the state, regional or national level and try to cut through “red tape” to help reach a solution.  Also, if there is a real emergency where your health, livelihood, etc. are threatened by an impending IRS action, such as levy, we can file a “Form 911” Taxpayer Assistance Order that gets immediate attention.  I have only done this on rare occasions, but the results have been gratifying.  I have used the Taxpayer Advocate on numerous occasions and have been very pleased with the help I’ve received.