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IRS to pilot test web videoconferences for tax appeals
Source:
taxprotoday.com
- Jul 25, 2017
The Internal Revenue Service’s Office of Appeals plans to test a web-based videoconferencing option for taxpayers and their representatives to hold virtual face-to-meetings with IRS appeals officers without going to the IRS’s offices.
The IRS anticipates the new virtual conference option will be attractive to taxpayers who live far away from an IRS Appeals office. Every year, the Office of Appeals listens to appeals from more than 100,000 taxpayers trying to settle their tax disputes without heading to court. Taxpayers who are involved in the appeals process can already meet with an Appeals Officer by phone, in person or virtually through videoconference technology, but the videoconferences are available only at a limited number of IRS offices and not just over the web.
The new pilot program will rely on a secure, web-based screen-sharing system to connect taxpayers with IRS appeals employees face-to-face from wherever internet access is available. As with screen-sharing programs used on phones and home computers, such as Facetime and Skype, the technology enables the IRS to provide better access, flexibility and convenience to taxpayers. The web-based system also offers more features than the IRS’s existing video-conferencing technology.
Category: General Business
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