[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 156 (Saturday, November 8, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2233]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                           WHAT THE IRS NEEDS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JERRY MORAN

                               of kansas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, November 7, 1997

  Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, this week Congress made an important, 
bipartisan statement on behalf of American taxpayers. I supported H.R. 
2676 because my constituents know that the Internal Revenue Service 
needs restructuring and reforming. They tell me stories about assigning 
an employee to try for 5 hours to get an IRS agent on the telephone, 
and about wading through multiple notices of deficiency, none of which 
explain the supposed problem or include the name of an agent who could 
do so.
  Stories such as those led me to introduce H.R. 2598, the IRS Customer 
Service Improvement Act, last month. All of my fellow Members of 
Congress who voted for H.R. 2676 earlier this week should consider 
signing on to my bill as well, because they have much in common.
  Both bills are aimed at changing the attitude the IRS takes toward 
taxpayers. Taxpayers should be the customers of the IRS, not its 
targets. Most Americans want to follow the law and pay their taxes 
correctly and should not be considered de facto lawbreakers. Both bills 
also recognize that Government owes more than just a little respect to 
the people who have given it the authority to exist. Under our 
sprawling Tax Code, the IRS has an important role, but that is no 
excuse for institutional arrogance.
  However, the bill we passed this week has more in common with my 
legislation than spirit and theme. The provision regarding equalizing 
the interest rates for overlapping underpayments and overpayments, for 
example, is similar to section 3 of the IRS Customers Service 
Improvement Act, which would make the interest rate equal in all cases.
  The IRS Customer Service Improvement Act also would require the IRS 
to implement a plan to have all calls to service numbers answered by 
IRS employees--not machines--in a timely manner; require all IRS 
letters and notices to be signed by an IRS agent; require the IRS to 
notify you of mathematical or clerical errors within 6 months; require 
the IRS to forgive interest and penalties on mathematical and clerical 
errors if you pay within 60 days of timely notification; establish a 1-
year period of limitation for the IRS to assess additional taxes on 
returns legally filed by individual taxpayers in all but the highest 
tax bracket; and make the electronic filing of depository taxes 
voluntary for small businesses.
  While I look forward to the next phase of debate, the possible 
overhaul of our complex and flawed Tax Code, these provisions will add 
to the drive to change the nature of the IRS while we still have it. 
After all, Mr. Speaker, it is called the Internal Revenue Service--and 
it is service that American taxpayers deserve.

                          ____________________