Is help from the IRS of any use?

• Author: Schnepper, Jeff A.
• Position: Economic Observer

TAX SEASON is not too far away. Now is a good time to start getting your tax ducks in order. The Internal Revenue Service can provide a lot of help. The real question pertains to the quality of that help. Two decades ago, Ralph Nader's Tax Reform Research Group prepared 22 identical tax reports based on the fictional economic plight of a married couple with one child. These were submitted to 22 different IRS offices around the country. Each came up with a different tax figure. Results varied from a refund of $811.96 recommended in Flushing, N.Y. to a tax-due figure of $52.13 by the IRS office in Portland, Ore. Was that help? Well, it did get me to thinking about moving to Flushing.

My favorite IRS tax aids are the phone numbers the agency provided in two 2001 publications. Call and you were referred to adult chat lines. Seriously, though, the IRS can help. Send a fax to 703-368-9694 for any forms you need. If you do not have access to a fax, call 800-TAX-FORM and they will be mailed to you. It even is possible to get Braille tax products at that number.

You can hear recorded messages on about 150 tax topics at 800-829-4477. If you need an Employer Identification Number, one is available immediately by phoning 800-829-4933. Have a question you need to talk to someone about? Call the Tax Help Line at 800-829-1040.

Here is where it may become sticky, though. In reviewing the IRS's 2002 tax season, the General Accounting Office reported that IRS customer service representatives answered 1,600,000 more calls than the prior year. However, that was 2,600,000 less than the projected goal. Phone service did get better in 2003. The IRS provided 872,000 more toll-free services than in 2002. Still, 6,700,000 taxpayers were disconnected. According to former House Ways and Means Committee Oversight Subcommittee Chairman, J.J. Pickle, "Calling the IRS for tax advice is a real crap shoot."

Things were not much better if you came in person. The IRS has over 400 offices nationwide where you can walk in and get help. They are called Taxpayer Assistance Centers and you can find the one closest to you at 800-829-1040. Here again, though, you are dealing with people who are supposed to know the law. Yet, you may have a better shot at the fight answer on the "Tax Corner" website. Thirty percent of the answers were incorrect in a 2003 test of the system by the Treasury Inspector General. In a December, 2003, survey of assistance sites across the country, IRS...