 |
IRS Criticized For Missed Contacts With Business Late Payers
Source:
tax-news.com
- Oct 1, 2012
by Mike Godfrey, Tax-News.com, Washington
28 September 2012
The United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) took positive steps to communicate with and educate business taxpayers about a new regulation that took effect in January 2011, but did not always contact those taxpayers when they were not in compliance with the regulation, according to a report released by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).
TIGTA conducted its audit to assess the IRS’s management of the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS) and the Federal Tax Deposit (FTD) Alert Programme.
The EFTPS is a free tax-payment system that allows business and individual taxpayers to pay their federal taxes electronically via the internet or telephone at any time. The IRS has an FTD Alert Programme to identify, at an early stage, business taxpayers who have fallen behind in their tax payments, and provide an early opportunity for the IRS to assist and educate business taxpayers before additional liabilities accumulate.
TIGTA found that the IRS took positive steps to communicate with and educate business taxpayers about the electronic payment regulation that took effect on January 1, 2011, but that IRS revenue officers did not always contact business taxpayers in a timely manner after receiving FTD Alert assignments.
“I am pleased by the IRS’s action to communicate and educate business taxpayers about this new regulation, but (it) must then ensure that revenue officers contact all business taxpayers about problems in a timely manner, since business taxpayers who are not contacted timely accrue more interest and penalties,” said J. Russell George, the TIGTA.
TIGTA recommended that the IRS take steps to ensure that revenue officers contact business taxpayers within 15 calendar days of FTD Alert assignments. IRS officials agreed with TIGTA’s recommendations and said that they plan to take appropriate corrective actions.
Category: General Business
|
