The Softer Side Of The IRS

The national taxpayer advocate gives frustrated taxpayers a voice.

- Sandra Block

SINCE 2001, NINA OLSON, THE IRS’S national taxpayer advocate, has been on a mission: to make sure taxpayers’ rights are protected when they’re up against a government agency that many Americans find intimidating, if not downright terrifying. Under her tenure, the Taxpayer Advocate Service, created in 1996, has helped more than 4 million taxpayers resolve problems, ranging from frozen tax refunds to tax liens that threaten an individual’s livelihood.

The Taxpayer Advocate Service is designed to help taxpayers who “have a significant hardship as a result of IRS actions or are about to experience significant hardship,” Olson says. In some cases, the TAS may get involved even though “the IRS is doing nothing wrong, but it’s not acting fast enough, and because of that it’s going to create economic harm,” she says.

In recent cases, the TAS prodded the IRS to remove a steep penalty on an IRA rollover (it was the bank’s fault the taxpayer missed the 60-day deadline), tracked down a refund for a woman who needed money to pay for cancer treatments, and convinced the IRS to release a levy on a retiree’s Social Security benefits, which were her only source of income.

Olson is retiring on July 31. She sat down with Kiplinger’s to talk about her achievements during the past 18 years and the challenges that will await her successor.

What are some of the most common reasons taxpayers come to you?