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Published:   |   Last Updated: January 30, 2025

Identify compliance challenges for taxpayers abroad and make administrative recommendations to minimize burdens imposed on this population.

Objective 9

Background

Taxpayers abroad face significant challenges in meeting their U.S. tax obligations and they are plagued by a complex tax code and declining levels of IRS customer service. They can be liable for severe penalties for failing to file or incorrectly filing their tax returns and complicated international information returns, of which they may not be aware. Yet, they have no access to in-person IRS assistance and almost no ability to access free return preparation assistance. Additionally, taxpayers abroad often encounter significant delays in receiving correspondence from or sending correspondence to the IRS and have insufficient timeframes in which to respond to key IRS notices, which causes them to lose critical administrative, due process, and judicial rights. Other challenges include difficulties in obtaining Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers and checking on their application status, access to only one dedicated IRS telephone line (that is not toll-free), language barriers, problems accessing online resources, and limited payment and refund options. Despite the multitude of challenges facing taxpayers abroad, the IRS offers only limited assistance, and many IRS systems are still not compatible with the needs of this population. The complexity of U.S. tax laws and the lack of accessible IRS customer service and assistance burdens taxpayers, especially those abroad, causes frustration, and impedes compliance. To protect taxpayer rights and improve voluntary compliance for this population, the IRS needs to educate and assist taxpayers abroad, improve customer service options, and reduce the challenges these taxpayers face.

Highlights

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Status

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2.

Expected Completion Date

09/30/2025

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Activities

Activity 1: Meet with stakeholders and representatives for international taxpayers to better understand the difficulties they face in complying with their U.S. tax obligations and make recommendations to the IRS to reduce compliance burdens.

Activity 2: Work with the IRS to identify which IRS forms and publications individual taxpayers abroad use most and recommend the IRS prioritize them for translation into languages other than English.

Activity 3: Review IRM provisions and IRS correspondence products to identify circumstances in which taxpayers abroad do not have sufficient time to respond and make recommendations to the IRS to revise such notices and procedures to provide additional time.

Activity 4: Review the FAQs about international individual tax matters on IRS.gov applicable to U.S. taxpayers abroad and provide specific suggestions to the IRS about how to improve that content to make it more helpful to taxpayers abroad.

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Actions Completed

1st Quarter

TAS interviewed stakeholders and representatives of international taxpayers while conducting research and reviews for the 2024 Most Serious Problem (MSP) “Civil Penalty Administration” and “Criminal Voluntary Disclosure”. The feedback received was included in the 2024 MSPs. TAS made a recommendation to the IRS to identify which IRS forms and publications individual taxpayers abroad use most. The IRS first needs to initiate a research study to know if this population is considered Limited English Proficient (LEP), which languages would apply to this population, and then tailor language-related initiatives and services geared toward this population. The Withholding, Exchange, and International Individual Compliance (WEIIC) Practice Area is looking at this request to see if a study is something they have the resources for and that can assist with the recommendation

TAS continues to participate in data gathering calls to ensure taxpayers abroad are provided sufficient time to respond to IRS correspondence.

TAS has conducted and continues to conduct reviews of the Internal Revenue Manual (IRM) provisions through the Internal Management Document process.

The Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) will initiate work on activity number 4 by March 31, 2025.

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Next Steps

TAS will continue to work with the IRS to identify which IRS forms and publications individual taxpayers abroad use most. The Study to identify which populations are considered LEP is another step to improve the taxpayer experience, although the required funding must compete with numerous legislative needs and other IT service demands. The Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) will initiate work on activity number 4 by March 31, 2025.

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