WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- The office of the taxpayer advocate said the U.S. Internal Revenue Service should issue "apology payments" to taxpayers for mishandled returns.
Nina Olson, the autonomous taxpayer advocate at the IRS, told the U.S. Congress Wednesday the IRS should issue payment up to $1,000 to tax filers whose cases were mishandled by the agency, The Washington Post said Thursday.
"I believe taxpayers and tax administration will benefit from an explicit statement of what taxpayers have a right to expect from their government and what the government has a right to expect from its taxpayers," Olson said.
Her annual report to Congress suggested lawmakers allow up to $1 million per year to distribute payments to people who underwent some form of "excessive expense or undue burden" due to IRS errors.
Lee Burman, a tax policy analyst, said Olson's plan "seems really ad hoc" and opens the "apology payments" to exploitation.
Olson's report also highlighted 26 of the worst problems encountered by taxpayers, including the congressional penchant for making year-end amendments to the tax code after many federal forms were printed.
