What Is the Taxpayer Bill of Rights? (Part 1)

You have rights as a taxpayer.
We will be going over the first five items on the Taxpayer Bill of Rights today.

As U.S. citizens, we all have rights. We have rights as taxpayers, too, so the IRS has come up with the Taxpayer Bill of Rights. This is a list of 10 rights you have as a taxpayer that you should know about. Today, we’re discussing the first five:

1. You have the right to be informed. You have the right to know what you need to do to comply with certain tax laws. You are also entitled to clear explanations of laws and procedures in all tax forms and instructions. Finally, you have the right to be informed of IRS decisions on your tax accounts and to receive clear explanations of the outcome.

2. You have the right to quality service. You also have the right to receive prompt, courteous, and professional assistance in your dealings with the IRS. You have the right to receive clear, easy, and understandable communication and a way to file complaints about inadequate service.

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We’ll go over the other five items next time.

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3. You have the right to pay no more than the correct amount of tax. Taxpayers have the right to pay only the amount of tax that is legally due and to have the IRS apply all tax payments properly.

4. You have a right to challenge the IRS position and be heard. Taxpayers have the right to raise objections and provide additional documentation in response to formal IRS actions or proposed actions. You also have the right to expect that the IRS will consider your objections and document them promptly and fairly.

5. You have the right to appeal an IRS decision in an independent forum. You are entitled to a fair administrative appeal of most IRS decisions, including those on penalties, and you have the right to receive a written response regarding a decision.

Those are just the first five items on the Taxpayer Bill of Rights. Next time, I’ll cover the other five. If you have any tax problems or know someone who does, give us a call or send us an email. It’s always in your best interest to hire a qualified tax problem specialist. We have experience negotiating with the IRS to settle debts. We look forward to hearing from you soon.