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House Dems Want Taxpayer Relief From Outdated IRS Notices

Posted on June 12, 2020

The IRS needs to consider relief for taxpayers who will soon be receiving outdated notices that have been printed and piling up in tax agency facilities during the coronavirus shutdown, say two House taxwriters.

Approximately 1.5 million taxpayers will be getting balance-due notices that were printed before the IRS evacuation order May 27, but that the reopening agency plans to mail without update or revision, according to a June 11 letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig from House Ways and Means Committee Chair Richard E. Neal, D-Mass., and Oversight Subcommittee Chair John Lewis, D-Ga.

“It appears that some of the proposed notices involve the assessment of penalties,” the lawmakers wrote.

Neal and Lewis asked the IRS commissioner to waive some penalties and grant relief to taxpayers “who find themselves unprepared for these balance due notices.”

Taxpayers also shouldn’t be penalized for the time their correspondence went unopened and unprocessed because of the IRS’s coronavirus shutdown, the representatives said.

While the IRS will include an insert in the mailings with the correct dates, the congressmen said, “The receipt of a notice with incorrect and conflicting dates is likely to cause unnecessary confusion for many taxpayers.”

The new notices’ due dates will also coincide with the extended 2020 tax return filing season deadline of July 15, which the letter said was likely to cause more confusion and economic hardship for unemployed and financially insecure taxpayers.

The congressmen said the confusion and distress caused by the outdated notices will probably increase the demand for IRS taxpayer services at precisely the time when filers are seeking help with their refunds, economic impact payments, and normal business and individual tax questions.

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