G3-2022

FY22 Goal 3: Provide Timely Outreach and Education to Taxpayers and Practitioners

Organizational Objectives

Expand our outreach efforts with a focus on reaching the underserved and giving taxpayers the tools to help resolve their issues sooner.

Status: Closed
Completion Date: 09/30/2022

Quarterly Update:
4th Quarter: TAS finalized the existing content review for the Taxpayer Roadmap this quarter in coordination with each section’s designated team. All actions on this objective have been completed as of 9/30/2022.

3rd Quarter: To expand the use of virtual outreach, the Taxpayer Advocate Service’s (TAS) Case Advocacy function partnered with the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic program (LITC) to garner support to deploy Virtual Service Delivery kiosks on two Native American reservations. Further, Case Advocacy continued to expand Native Americans’ ability to reach TAS through outreach and our digital platforms.

TAS continued the expansion of the digital Taxpayer Roadmap Online Tool to include additional IRS processes and explore providing the tool in Spanish by reviewing the existing Roadmap content. New content was identified and is under consideration by leadership. Also, TAS identified 127 notice pages for review on the Taxpayer Roadmap located on the TAS website to make certain the content is current and accurate. If content changes are needed, TAS will publish and coordinate all updates.

Lastly, new content work is not starting until all current content reviews have been completed. The Digital Taxpayer Roadmap on the TAS web site currently can be viewed in both English and Spanish.

2nd Quarter: The Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) collaborated with IRS and Native American populations to garner support on piloting the Virtual Service Delivery kiosks on two Native American reservations.

1st Quarter: The Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC) held two sessions focusing on tax issues of Native American tribes including a session on conducting outreach to Native American populations. The LITC continues to collaborate with Indian Tribal Governments (ITG) to find alternative ways to reach and serve Native American communities. Also, within the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS), each Local Taxpayer Advocate (LTA) developed and implemented outreach plans including global quarterly outreach goals specific to Pre-Filing Season Awareness, Native Americans, Military, Homeless, and Senior Citizens. Further, TAS has continued to work on an outreach strategy for underserved taxpayers. Lastly, we have completed and published our Taxpayer Roadmap online tool in Spanish to reach a broader population.

Support the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel’s (TAP) effort in identifying tax issues in providing taxpayer perspective and recommendations to the IRS programs, products, and services.

Status: Closed
Completion Date: 03/31/2022

Quarterly Update:
2nd Quarter: During the second quarter of Fiscal Year (FY) 2022, the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP) worked with the Executive Director Case Advocacy (EDCA) to identify focus groups and specialized projects and TAP worked with the Taxpayer Experience Office (TXO) to provide grassroots insights. Also, all Local Taxpayer Advocates (LTAs) received information about the TAP member associated with their state and they were encouraged to include the members in their outreach efforts and other activities. All planned activities for this objective have been completed.

1st Quarter: The Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) supports the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel’s (TAP) effort in identifying tax issues in providing taxpayer perspective and recommendations to the IRS programs, products, and services through several activities during the year. We have communicated TAP member availability for providing grassroots taxpayer insights, promoted relationships between members and their Local Taxpayer Advocates (LTAs), including encouraging joint outreach efforts, and provided additional support by assisting with newsletters, new releases, publications and the TAP annual report.

Support Low Income Taxpayer Clinics’ (LITC) efforts to assist taxpayers with tax disputes and expand the program's availability.

Status: Open
Completion Date: TBD

Quarterly Update:
4th Quarter: Work on this objective will continue in FY2023.

3rd Quarter: TAS continued to partner with the IRS to develop additional strategies to reach underserved taxpayer populations; however, to move forward funding to place the machines and run connections must be identified. The Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC) program is working to arrange a conversation with the FCC Grant office who are working to subsidize broad access for underserved communities. The LITC would like to publicize this opportunity to help move forward community access that will assist with using technologies and access points.

Further, TAS continued analyzing current LITC coverage data for underserved populations. An application was released and pushed through various social media platforms, the Congressional Newsletter, and the LinkedIn network. From that release, the LITC received contacts from interested organizations in areas with gaps including North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Idaho.

2nd Quarter: The Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC) office enabled the enrollment of Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) staff in the Indian Tribal Government (ITG) Protocol training held in March but, has not yet identified a funding source to use for placement of Virtual Service Delivery (VSD) machines in identified communities. Further, the LITC distributed a press release to alert potential clinics that application will be available soon. Also, the LITC office participated in the Congressional Affairs Program (CAP) conference and presented at an event sponsored by Department of Treasury for minority owned businesses, contractors, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), and Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI).

1st Quarter: The Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC) office held collaborative meetings with the Indian Tribal Government (ITG), Wage and Investment (W&I), and TAS which led to the ITG working with the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) to facilitate outreach by Local Taxpayer Advocates (LTAs). Also, the LITC office continued to strengthen its communication and marketing to target communities, began identifying new ways to streamline data collection, and worked on legislative recommendations to encourage changes to the program to address coverage issues in the Western US.

Return to FY22 TAS Operational Plan