# IRS Taxpayer advocate service report



## AmTaker (Aug 17, 2011)

The IRS Taxpayer advocate service came out with its annual report on the IRS and included a large section (very critical of the IRS) on FBARs, the 2009 VD program etc etc. Very scathing report, so hopefully it'll have some impact

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/2011_arc_internationalmsps.pdf


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## 416 (Sep 20, 2011)

Wow, that's a breath of fresh air. 



> The complexity of international tax law combined with the procedural burden placed on individual U.S. taxpayers working, living, and doing business abroad creates an environment where taxpayers who are trying their best to comply simply cannot. For some taxpayers, this means paying more U.S. tax than is legally required or incurring steep civil and criminal penalties. For others, the tax requirements are so confusing and the compliance burden is so great that they give up their U.S. citizenship. The number of renunciations increased
> tenfold between fiscal years (FYs) 2008 and 2010.


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## 416 (Sep 20, 2011)

*Simplification of Returns and Forms for Individual U.S. Taxpayers Abroad Can Substantially Decrease Burden and Avoid Waste of IRS Resources. *


> The IRS has broad authority to prescribe the time and manner in which taxpayers file returns and the format of various required forms. The annual income of many individual U.S. taxpayers abroad may be below the foreign earned income exclusion and foreign housing exclusion or deduction combined. Taxpayers in many countries may have a higher effective income tax rate than in the U.S., and therefore the foreign tax credit (FTC) will result in zero or de minimis tax liability in the U.S. For TY 2009, 5.5 million taxpayers (or 89 percent of the 6.2 million individuals claiming an FTC) had an FTC of $300 or less.33 Figure 1.8.2 below shows that for TY 2009, 88 percent of all taxpayers claiming the foreign earned income exclusion (FEIE) did not have U.S. tax liability after applying the exclusion. After the application of the FTC, only about nine percent of these taxpayers had a U.S. tax liability.
> In both situations, the IRS can and should significantly simplify tax return and information reporting forms and expand self-serve options, including TeleFile, fax, and a free web application from IRS.gov (“Netfile”). This approach would substantially decrease burden on U.S. taxpayers abroad and free up IRS resources for examinations of other returns with substantial tax liabilities.


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## Guest (Jan 11, 2012)

What I don't understand is....does the TAS have any teeth? I mean, come on...here is your "voice inside the IRS" and it seems that they have been writing a lot of letters but nothing seems to come of it.

Sounds like our Government!


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## Guest (Jan 12, 2012)

AmTaker said:


> The IRS Taxpayer advocate service came out with its annual report on the IRS and included a large section (very critical of the IRS) on FBARs, the 2009 VD program etc etc. Very scathing report, so hopefully it'll have some impact
> 
> http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/2011_arc_internationalmsps.pdf



I haven't read it all, but I would think there is a lot of ammo in here to back up what we're saying. 

AmTaker, can you post on The Isaac Brock Society | Liberty and justice for all United States persons in Canada and abroad

calgary411
The Isaac Brock Society | Liberty and justice for all United States persons in Canada and abroad


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## 416 (Sep 20, 2011)

A close reading of pages 151 through 165 is revealing, particularly the IRS response (which is totally dismissive) and the response to the response. At 157, they flag recommendations ignored in the past.


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## Guest (Jan 12, 2012)

*No Wonder We're Confused!*



AmTaker said:


> http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/2011_arc_internationalmsps.pdf


p 4

The Complexity and Administrative Detail of the International Reporting
Requirements Are Overwhelming.

The IRS has *16 publications *that address international issues for individuals, totaling 407 pages, with 110 references to other publications totaling 4,491 pages and 137 references to forms totaling 450 pages which have an additional 2,190 pages of instructions. 

At a minimum, individual international taxpayers spent 25 million hours reviewing and completing TY 2009 forms. Publication 4732, Federal Tax Information for U.S. Taxpayers Living Abroad, illustrates the complexity of the filing requirements for individual U.S. taxpayers. The publication refers to at least eight other relevant IRS publications, totaling 563 pages. Further, the additional documents referred to by these eight publications include 4,727 pages of instructions, 667 pages of forms, and another 1,928 pages of form instructions for a total of 7,322 pages.

:rofl:


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## Peg (Sep 22, 2011)

No wonder the professionals don't agree on what to do either! And who could ever afford to hire someone who actually did read and comprehend all of it? By the time they finished reading it they would have to start over with the new legislation!


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