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Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Everson: IRS Will Review Frozen Refund Program
Yesterday, IRS Commissioner Mark Everson announced that the Questionable Refund Program, which is currently under scrutiny for recent practices, will undergo a review and modification process. Everson said in a news release, "We will announce plans in the very near future to institute notification procedures as well as significant processing improvements to minimize the number of taxpayers whose refunds are frozen unnecessarily." The agency will also likely revise its fraud screening procedures in order to withold fewer refunds owed to innocent taxpayers.The announcement came after a number of lawmakers wrote to the IRS questioning the program's focus on earned income tax credit beneficiaries.
Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson commended Everson's pledge to make improvements in the program, and noted the following immediate priorities:
- providing prompt notice to taxpayers whose refunds are frozen;
- giving those taxpayers an opportunity to present evidence in support of their claims before making any "determination" that someone has committed tax fraud;
- refining fraud screening methods to reduce the number of honest taxpayers whose refunds are frozen in error; and
- processing frozen refund cases more quickly.
Posted by Becky Lewis
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