the irs does need to be as efficient -- the irs does need to be efficient as possible and be careful ewards of the taxpayer money. after five years of budget cuts and a hiring freeze that has lasted for four years, people need to understand that the irs is going to have to do less with less. it means that both enforcement and taxpayer service will suffer. the problem is that our levels of staffing are insufficient to deliver on our mission. consider that the 13,000 employees we've lost since 2010 include 5000 key enforcement personnel. these are the people who audit returns, conduct election -- conduct collection activities, and investigate refund fraud and other cases. we estimate the drop in audit and collection case closures this year will translate into a loss for the government of at least $2 billion in revenue that otherwise would have been collected. essentially, the government is forgoing billions of dollars to achieve budget savings of a few hundred million dollars. since we estimate that everyone -- every one dollar invested in the irs budget produces at least four dollars i

a little bit on irs resources. i will be a bit repetitive on what the commissioner said and what rosemary said. a few comments, slightly repetitive, on changes on irs workload that has accompanied the non-growth in resources. it is coming from demographic changes that changes the economy. none of us knew very much about. the other from policy changes. finally, i want to make a few comments on whether tax reform would help matters. let's start with the data here. the upper left-hand quadrant shows real irs operating costs in millions of 2014 dollars. that has gone up slowly over time and dropped sharply after 2010. all these pictures look the same after 2010. operating costs from the top right as a percentage of gdp i could have shown operating costs relative to labor costs are wage index, and that would look similar. that has been declining gradually over time. there is a more precipitous drop after 2010. the bottom left shows average irs employment, again dropping but really plummeting over the last few years. there are als

be used legitimately. so you want the employees in the irs to be trained, and you want the irs to be accessible by you.you want to be able to get through to that power and say don't do this to me. you know? you got it wrong, irs, and i've got the information to tell you. i'm entitle today that dependency exemption or that earned income tax credit. i switched the digits on my return. listen to me, fix them, let me fete that $3,000. you want due process in that tax system, the ability to come in what we promise in our taxpayer bill of rights, the right to challenge the irs and be heard. so now let's look at how the urs is doing as the taxpayers attempt to reach the irs and be heard. i have been practicing now for four decades. i thought about whether i'd say 40 years or four decades. there's no good way to say -- two score i have been practicing. [laughter] and involved in the tax system. and i have never, ever seen anything like this filing season on the phones. this is just the roll-up, the customer account services are really all of our taxpayer help lines. and so a year ago we were able to answer sev

be used legitimately. so, you want the employees in the irs to be trained. and you want the irs to be accessible by you. you want to be able to get through to that power and say, don't do this to me. you got it wrong, irs, and i've got the information to tell you. i'm entitled to that dependsy exception or earned income tax credit. i switched the digits on my return. listen to me. fix them. let me get that $3,000. you want due process in that tax system. the ability to come in what we promise, the right to challenge the irs and be heard. so, let's look at how the irs is doing as the taxpayers attempt to reach. i have been practicing for four decades. i thought about whether to say four years or four decades. two score i have been practicing and involved in the tax system and i have never ever seen anything like this filing season on the phones. this is just the roll up, the customer account services are really all of our taxpayer help lines and so a year ago, we were able to answer seven out of every ten calls and this is the filing season, so it starts from january 1st and today, we can't even answer f

. >>> one day to go until the tax deadline and the irs is warning some to be re -- be aware of tax related scammers. and more on the threat and what you can do to protect yourself and your money. >> watch out for scammers. that is the message today from the irs as tax season comes to a close. officials there put together their annual dirty dozen list of the worst scams taking advantage of taxpayers today. and they say an old-fashioned scheme is back in a big way. phone scams. which crooks pretend to be irs agents to bully people into giving up personal information or even hard-earned cash. >> we're seeing this in every part of the country. it is an amazing phenomenon. we have thousands and thousands of complaints about it. it is an aggressive scam and continues to grow. >> and also in the top three, a cyber crime tech called phishing. phony emails demanding pernal information. and a big generating revenue is identity threats, where criminals file boke us tax returns and pockets the refunds the irs sends along. how can you protect yourself? the irs said to watch out for phones and e-mails c

in the days gone by, the irs had a reputation of being a great place to start your career because of everything you learned that made you attractive to accounting firms, businesses, and law firms. many of those who started with the irs and assumed they would move on after what sometimes was viewed as a postgraduate education discovered the challenge and satisfaction of the work here and stayed throughout their careers. we need to restore our reputation that regard. but i'm not here to talk just about the problems we face. we are also working to move the agency forward with new ideas and new initiatives, especially new ways of helping taxpayers. even with our budget constraints, many good things about happening at the agency recently that people may not be aware of and i would like to give you a couple of examples. one is our adoption last summer of a taxpayer bill of rights. we believe this is a cornerstone document that will provide clearer help for taxpayers. the taxpayer bill of rights consists of 10 fundamental rights that every taxpayer should be aware of, such as the right to re

if you need to call irs with a question be prepared sit on hold. we have tips to make the process a little less taxing. >> also young musicians from the delaware valley get a chance of lifetime on stage at the kimle center with well known duo. those story and more when "action news" comes right why are dwight evans, marian tasco and so many other leaders backing jim kenney for mayor? because jim kenney's the one they trust. jim kenney's the one with a real record of standing up for public schools and he'll bring philadelphia together. it's kenney who will expand pre-kindergarten... and partner with businesses, community colleges and universities to create jobs. so join leaders we trust in supporting jim kenney the block by block mayor philadelphia needs. >> sunday night here's what's happening 11:30. hillary rodham clinton hits the road. the former secretary of state wastes no time hustling to states. >> was it a waste of american dollars. how few people were treated for u.s. officials responding to ebola in west africa. >> amazing accomplishment.

and so i understand that it would be difficult for the irs to try to recoup improper payments or credits or subsidies because they won't be subject to the reconciliation process when they file tax returns, because they don't file tax returns. so, how, as an irs, are you able to handle that situation? what is the plan moving forward for those folks that were receiving credits or subsidies? >> those qualifications were made by cms and hhs, which runs medicare and medicaid and has experience on recouping improper payments or payments made in error. so this is an area where they will be responsible for doing that. >> that won't even be run through the irs? >> no. in other words if they weren't -- again as you say if they weren't filing, they will -- you know if the premiums have been paid on their behalf at this point the idea is that cms will pursue those to the extent that they pursue any other payments that they make you know, that turn out to be improper. >> okay. i can see this is going to be a very difficult situation with so many different entities involved with subsidies, tax credits

irs as well. we started talking about that. the legislation will be voted on during the week of april 14 several pieces of legislation a ticket of the death tax but these are reforms for private e-mails put into public beta. there are 500,000 hours each year used for the union purposes. so when they don't answer the phone with 60% of the phone calls the political appointees say that's because you are not giving me enough money. he has 500,000 hours which somebody calculated could be 2.3 million at that the time. get into the labor unions for free, the workers, the people. but it's not with taxpayers dollars. we need to ban the efforts that they started which is to say that you contribute to the conservative group with think it is the gift tax to stop them. we think that -- this is a very powerful one because they were calling the donors and saying we think you may have a gift tax 25%. that is not true. i don't know maybe we shouldn't give as much of this action cycle. you could describe describe bodyweight everybody that he talks to just with a threat

clearly the irs continues to be an essential part of our system of governance. responsible for collecting tax revenue that amounts to about 18% of our economy. commissioner koskinen is the irs's 48th commissioner. he manages approximately 90,000 employees. with a budget of approximately $11 billion. and that's a budget as i'm sure he'll allude to today that his been shrinking over the last five years or so. maybe more than five years. previous to coming to the irs he served as the non-executive chairman of freddie mac from 2008 to 2012 and its acting chief executive officer in 2009. prior to that he was the president of the u.s. soccer foundation. got a lot to talk about with you on that one. he has also served as deputy mayor and city administrator of washington, d.c. assistant to the chair and president's chair council the year 2000 version. and deputy director of management at the office for management and budget. he's also had 21 years of private sector experience in various leadership experience with the palmieri company, helping to turn around large trouble

it is a great time for the irs collecting $3 trillion. you may be pulling your hair out by the end of the day. the irs saying you may not be able to speak to a real person on the phone today. >> our phone level of service at the start of the filing season was 54 percent. as we have gotten closer to the end of the filing season it dipped below 40 percent. that means more than six out of 10 people who called could not reach a live person. >> blaming the poor service on flash budgets and under staffing. >> after five years of budget cuts and hiring freeze that lastedd four years people need to understand the irs is going to have to do less with less. it means both enforcement and tax payer service will suffer. the problem is there are levels of staffing are insufficient to deliver on our mission. >> despite commissioner's claims the irs is still spending our money. orrin hatch chair of the senate committee blatsing the irs for a series of multi-million dollar purchases by the agency. included $4.3 million on market research and public opinion polling.

with the implementation of the affordable care act i couldn't be more pleased with the irs has been able to do. sen. johnson: let me just admit because back of the envelope calculations are dangerous. the second year would be about $340. i want to correct the record, i was wrong. it really looks like the minimum penalty will be the maximum penalty. i just want to correct that. it just seemed man, i started going through that logic of, this is unbelievable. sen. mccaskill: commissioner, everybody is offended at the notion, regardless of party or ideology at the notion that the irs whatever target groups based on their belief. i understand the outrage, i understand the need to hold people accountable. i would like you to explain when we vent that frustration by cutting your agency, who exactly are we punishing? mr. koskinen: as other people have noted, when you punish the irs by cutting its budget, ultimately you are punishing taxpayers because you limit the ability to provide the employer -- provide the service to them that our employees provide. satisfaction comes from helping people and

if you're pigging up phone, somebody calling in to claim to be the irs your response should be what? >> yeah the irs will only send things through the mail. so that is completely a scam. these fake charities and the rest. do not, do not fall prey to those. those are not real. and obviously be very careful in opening email. gerri: of course somebody asks for your credit card number over the phone, no. >> do not give it. gerri: got to tell you, this is getting scary though. i think that -- >> i know it is. >> it is difficult to protect your sell. here you are trying to do the right thing. you're 98% of americans who want to pay your taxes instead you're having your identity stolen and refund filtered, stolen. last word here, bill. i know you've got big plans for next year. but last word to consumers to? >> yeah. we have a product called tax identity shield. i recommend people look into that. that affords protections against tax identity theft which is exactly what we're talking about right now. gerri: what does it cost? >> it costs $30. gerri: okay. there is one answer right there. bill

be much less need for in person help either my wait in line at an irs assistant center or by calling him by phone to improving service to taxpayers and also help is on the compliance front. we need to be faster and smarter in that area. with a more modern system the irs could identify problems in tax returns when the return is filed rather than coming back to taxpayers years after the fact while the meter is running on potential penalties and interest. we want to interact with taxpayers as soon as possible so those issues can be corrected without costly follow-up contact or labor intensive audits. it's not in all of this would be new. to the extent we been able to even with our budget constraints we have made significant improvements in our technology to serve taxpayers. one of our more popular features on irs.gov is the where's my refund electronic tracking to the taxpayers have already used it more than 187 million times this filing season and different close to surpassing the total for all of last year. i was trying to note a dozen new of 187 million taxpayers. there are some peop

i understand that it would be difficult for the irs to try and recoup payments or credits are -- for subsidies because they won't be subject to the reconciliation process when they file tax returns because they don't file tax returns. so how, as the irs, are you able to handle that situation and what is the plan moving forward for those folks that were receiving credit or subsidies? commissioner koskinen: the qualifications and determinations were made by hhs. this is an area where they will -- they have experience on recouping payments made in in error. this is an area where they will be responsible for doing that sen. ernst: that won't even be run through the irs? commissioner koskinen: if the premiums have been paid on their behalf, at this point, the idea is that cms will pursue those to the extent that they pursue any other payments that they make that turn out to be improper. sen. ernst: this is going to be a very difficult situation with so many different entities involved with subsidies, tax credits. one agency not knowing how another agency is going to handle it. commissioner

this whole idea that the irs sort of can be cavalier about this information and then hide behind the very protections that are supposed to protect taxpayers that get twisted and distorted and protect the irs officials who have abused this information. so there is any number of these things that have moved forward and they came out of the ways and means committee on a bipartisan basis which is a pretty interesting thing. so, on a bipartisan basis now, folks are saying this is too much irs you have too much power and the american people are going to push back against. >> you as a former prosecutor, i want to know about prosecutor r. prosecuting the people and firing employees that have abused american taxpayers. how about that? >> right. it's unbelievable. congressman from ohio has introduced legislation that we hope to pass tomorrow that says it is a firing offense for people to target based on political beliefs. and you would think that this would be intuitive. you would think that this is already the state of the law so it's not and congressman has advanced this legislation and i'm c

but let's be real. the irssn't make those kinds of calls, so the best way to avoid getting scammed, if you hear something like that, hang up the phone. >>> always watching, always tracking, wusa 9's first alert weather, d.c.'s most accurate. >> all right, the three degree guarantee. you're going to make it i think. >> i think we're going to make it i think. we went 69. we give the official high at 11:00, i think we're on schedule. let's go to the graphics. we have to be within 3 degree. that's our 3 degree guarantee. we forecast at 69 and i think we're going to be okay today. maybe starting a new winning streak as it were. i wish the nats could start a winning streak. a live look outside at our michael & son live weather cam. the tidal basin is not as vibrant as it was, but still worth checking out the blooms. right now it's still 65. relative humidity only 32%. so a lot of clouds, yes, but a very, very dry air mass. really a pretty comfortable evening, quite frankly. partial clearing tonight and just chilly. b

if you try to reach out to the irs for help you may still be waiting. rebecca jarvis with more on that and ways you can still help yourself. >> reporter: tonight, the clock ticking just three days to your tax deadline. crunch time when so many of us call the irs with those last-minute questions. >> welcome to the internal revenue service. >> reporter: but this year help might not be a quick call away according to irs commissioner john koskinen. >> more than six out of ten people who called could not reach a live assistant. that is simply unacceptable. >> reporter: koskinen says budget cuts are to blame for the short staffing. and many tax filers finding out the hard way. >> i called the irs friday morning with what i thought was a pretty simple refund question. >> reporter: 44 minutes, then 63. jennifer norman instagramming her time waiting. >> and it ended up being on hold about an hour and 12 minutes before i talked to somebody. >> reporter: long waits in person, too. this line outside a dallas irs office in march. even the irs' own admitted americans

in the days gone by, the irs had a reputation of being a great place to start your career, because of you attractive to accounting firms, businesses, and law firms. many of those who started with the irs and assumed they would move on after what sometimes was viewed as a postgraduate education discovered the challenge and satisfaction of the work here and stayed throughout their careers. we need to restore our reputation that regard. but i'm not here to talk just about the problems we face. we are also working to move th,s@leex

that can be a great way to trim taxes if you itemize. the irs does give you a way to figure out if you didn't but you will come out much better in most cases if you've saved those receipts even though it's a huge pain. gerri: it is a huge pain but you're getting us ready for next year. tom i knew you'd be great. thanks for coming on the show. >> my pleasure. gerri: can you check out the videos and my blogs at gerriwillis.com. speaking of taxes, the leader of the free world has to pay the irs. president obama paying more than $93,000 in taxes on an income of more than $477,000. that's according to the tax returns filed jointly with the first lady. he also donated $71,000 to charity. >>> as for the vice president joe biden and his wife paid more than $90,000 in taxes and just over $7,000 went to charity. big gap there, right? >>> coming up can phone companies do something to stop robocalls? >>> and next months after they were kidnapped, isis now asking for a ransom for its christian hostages. we'll have the latest with ambassador john bolton comin

>> well, we're going to point out a number of areas where the irs ought to be able to improve. in the world was the irs paying 60 million dollars in bonuses to people in a sequestration situation? it makes no sense. or why does the irs use hundreds of thousands of man-hours literally half a million man-hours for taxpayer subsidize activity as it relates to union activity, there's a whole host of these that we're going to go through, to just say that the congress appropriated the money that the irs needs to do the job, but it didn't appropriate money for lavish trips and we have a high expectation that the irs is going to use the money wisely. gerri: well, that's certainly something they've done in the past. lavish conferences i hope we get to talk to you soon. >> thanks, gerri. gerri: well onto a food sorry, the iconic macaroni which is cheese, well, it's getting a make over. the company plans to change the plans get rid of synthetic coloring, you know, my initial reaction to this is this is what college students eat and there's a reason why. it's so cheap. and the only reason y

don't be afraid of the irs. you know what, you shouldn't be afraid.ct, you file a return number one. number two you guesstimate or estimate the best you can what you owe. and make an attempt to pay with a payment plan you should be okay. >> all right. my shoulders are coming down from my ears right now. al, thank you. and coming up tomorrow, our users guide to taxes continues. how to watch out for tax scams. especially identity theft. who is responsible and is the irs contributing to the scams by being incompetent? that's a touchy question. consumer reports shares its annual survey of america's best supermarkets. what store should you avoid? ♪ ♪ gerri: you've been waiting for this. the results are in. over 60,000 americans have cast their votes on the best and worst grocery stores in america. consumer reports crunched the numbers and has the details on how grocery stores stack up. todd joins us on set. great to have you here. how do you decide if a store is great? >> well you know the parameters. low priced. convenience. helpful staff. no long lines a

irs. if it was normal situation i would be on the irs sides, because illegal activity they engaged i have no sympathy for then. gerri: 98% of the taxpayers. it is voluntary compliance. we're not a nation of scofflaws. we pay our taxes. that is what i believe. curtis thanks for coming on the show tonight. >> glad to be here. gerri: we want to know what you think. here is our question tonight. have you had trouble getting through to the irs for help? log on to gerriwillis.com for the vote. i will share the results at the end of tonight's show. programing note for you, all next week another "willis report" user's guide as we focus on last minute tax tips. scams to look out for, getting deductions you deserve. we're always looking out for you. if you have tax questions, let us know. our experts will have questions you need. drop us an email going to gerriwillis.com. >>> head's up to shoppers out there. walmart is cracking down on suppliers to make everyday low prices cheaper for customers. plus amazon out with a new gadget today, letting you buy household staples with a push of a button. chec

be. of us not having a certain amount of auditors. i do know the conversations about the irs being a toothless tiger might have some risk-taking, particularly the population that does the greatest risk-taking. that's the hardest to find. we are going to go after the poor little people who are dear -- deer in the headlights because we can find them but we don't go after the people doing the most aggressive stuff because we can't find them. we don't have the training. when you look at enforcement revenue is $50 billion out of $3 trillion. nina: on the case of tax fraud all the time, one of the things you learn is the breathtaking amount of attempts -- just breathtaking. the perception the service is not holding out against fraud where fraudsters are using the high technology is a very big issue. for the 2%, we have sliced those numbers of thousand ways. it also takes five and six years to resolve a lot of cases. there's an enormous inertia in that data. corporations put the money in escrow and we get the money in 6 years. that's not where the action is. but the perception and t

even the irs' own taxpayer advocate service admits americans could be facing the worst levels of serviceince 2001. so how can you make this year a little less taxing? first, use the irs website for answers to the most common questions. next, don't leave money on the table. >> people are either not claiming deductions for which they qualify or they're not using credits that are available to them. >> and finally, watch those typos. using direct deposit gets you your refund faster but only if your bank routing and account numbers are correct. rebecca jarvis, abc news, new york. >>> that's important. want to get that money right away. >>> the programs are big things people can use if people need help. look at reena crunching the numbers. >> come to me. i'll crunch them for you. i can't guarantee you'll get a refund or it will get in the mail. >> what a frown. coming up -- chasing a dream one dance step at a time. little girl who turned adversity into opportunity. her major setback is now just a speed bump in the rearview mirror in her journey to becoming a ballerina. >> it's being called the

and cognitive development and contributes to the development of chronic illnesses in ways that may be ir reversible. these combined with many due process concerns like prohibitive high bonds and difficulty accessing lawyers, makes family detention a truly truly troubling institution. it runs contrary to the 1997 florida settlement agreement regarding the detention of children. the agreement that juveniles should be held in the least restrictive setting appropriate to their age and special needs. and generally in a nonsecure facility licensed to care for dependent minors. and it said that detaining children in prison-like facilities both secure and unlicensed runs contrary to very hartd of the flores agreement. as we speak, flores counsel petitioned the court to reinforce the agreement in light of the expansion on family detention. given the concern regarding the mental and physical health effects on children in prolonged detention, i urge you to adopt a policy that minimizes the lengthy detention of children. and use more humane alternatives like alternatives -- my staff attended a live

irs allowing the fraudulent returns to go through. gerri: so it take as community here for somebody's identity to be stolen via tax. in fact irs paid identity thieves $5.2 billion in fraudulent refunds in 2013. the thinking as i understand it, richard, you can correct me if i'm not right, fraud artists are essentially hacking into people's passwords on turbotax and lifts information that they can then use to put into the irs a fake tax return. now the interesting thing about your case that christine diaz has not used turbotax four or five years. how can she have been harmed? >> how she was harmed the fraudulent, the cyber criminals, filed her returns through turbotax. so, the issue as to whether they took the password from somewhere else and came through turbotax is something we need to find out. what is certainly an equal, as credible theory is that turbotax was hacked and those filings went through not with the password of miss diaz. we don't know that. turbotax has not been very forthcoming saying what the situation is. gerri: i can tell you what intuit is saying tonight because we told them we were having you on

to successfully carry out its mission, the irs must be viewed by the american people as an unbiased arbiter of the lot. he cannot do that without coming clean. next week, the house will act on several initiatives that will require more accountability and transparency at the irs. this includes enacting a taxpayer bill of rights, complete with common sense steps, like requiring the irs to fire employees that use their position for political purposes. for bidding the irs employees from using personal e-mail accounts to conduct official business. and improving access for groups that feel they have been wronged by the irs. we are also going to act to provide more tax relief for american families. this is in addition to legislation we have already passed to provide permanent tax relief to small businesses, move that would help create 200,000 jobs. fixing our tax code and reforming the irs -- this is all part of republicans focus on making government address your priorities and work with the people who selected to serve. i thank you for listening. announcer: the president of the american medical a

the man claiming to be an irs agent says she had to withdraw $6,000 and got it into a special account and he gave her the number. and more than $15 million has been stolen. i called the cops on you. because she had account information to give to police that what happened to her can be traced. not through phone calls or messages or e-mails. >>> the so-called serial stow away has been released from a florida jail. maryland jean has been arrested six times and accused of sneaking on to planes without a ticket. this includes several high profile incidents. most recently she was charged with trespassing after reportedly sneaking into an omni resort hotel until florida. since then she has been in a county jail. but this time the judge ruled she is not mentally competent to stand trial and dismissed the charges. >>> the investigation continues this morning into the emergency landing of an alaska airlines jet. 14 minutes into the flight the pilot and passengers heard banging noises coming from the cargo hold. the plane turned around and landed back in seattle. it turns out a ramp worker had b

irs. says it started with a phone call where a man claiming to be an irs agent said she had to withdraw $6,000 from her bank and deposit into a special k he gave her the number. she is not alone. more than $15 million has been stolen. >> every time i would make a remark to thinking he said he told me i will call the cops on you. he would say he would put a lien on my house. >> she hopes because she account information that what happened to her she can be traced. the sonoma sheriff's department is investigating. know that the irs only contacts taxpayers through u.s. mail, not through phone calls, text messages or e-mails. >>> update on developing news from japan where jet reportedly skidded off runway. here are some photos from twitter showing emergency crews surrounds being that plane. this is at hiroshoma airport. passengers were evacuated through emergency slides. we're getting reports at least 20 people were hurt. reports say none of the injuries are serious. but passengers as you can imagine are pretty shaken up. this is the same airline that was involved in that deadly crash at san franci

irs. the time they sit on hold is like half an hour if they get their questions answered. it's so appalling. i would be ashamed to run the irs if i was in charge of the irs. >> it's millions of phone calls. what we did today in this hearing is look, here is where the money is $60 billion in bonuses paid out. 500,000 hours in paid union activity supported by the american taxpayer. $2.1 million going to a whited shoe law firm with 1,000 bucks an hour paid by billed by partners. >> what law firm. >> i don't know off the top of my head. >> they have got a lot of lawyers. why can't the irs use the lawyers inside? >> $100 million for enforcement that they have used -- they took money out of this account, put it on the enforcement side, $100 million that the irs could do every year, according to the gao and inspector general if they did private debt collection. >> why does congress tolerate this? >> we are making some progress. two areas we are making progress based on the work of the subcommittee. one on civil 50s an issue you and i have talked about in the past. the irs has changed their policies. that's go

however, ironically no charges are going to be brought against the central figure in the irs politicalgeting scandal, lois lerner. anything wrong with this picture? >> i think what's really wrong is that the timing of the indictment was almost the day that the iranian deal was signed. bob menendez was the ranking member on the foreign relations committee. he's had to give up his post. and to get congressional oversight, there needs to be 67 votes in the senate. and candidly with lois lerner having not been prosecuted and men then december prosecuted candidly, i think we're going to see the effort to get congressional review fall short. i hope i'm wrong. i hope there is review. but i think this really sends a message to the entire congress. >> let's talk about the indictment. 68 pages long. it statesmen then december had three girlfriends took nearly $1 million in trips, at a preference conference on wednesday the senator vehemently denied all of this. he asserted his innocence. listen to senator corker on whether the menendez indictment is politically motivated. all right, we don't hav

and cognitive development and contributes to the development of chronic illnesses in ways that may be iraccessing lawyers, makes family detention a truly truly troubling institution. it runs contrary to the 1997 flor

. >> he is worried about being automated. >> the irs is a great institution. >> how many people are watchings that are getting along with the same amount of money. they are a great organization. the u.s. and iran are miles apart. we are at that if the negotiations. it is time for iran to demonstrate whether or not they are willing to make these serious dance. >> how can you watch this without laughing? >> they should all be arrested for fraud at this point. we went through all of these associations. this does not mean anything. >> you talk about gridlock in washington a lot. a bipartisan consensus. i think what this means is the president will have to fend to the will of the senate. this will go on. i see a few moments before obama leaves office. selection goats toward someone with a harder line. what does hillary think. >> she would drive a harder bargain dan obama. >> it does not matter what we say. the retail giant is pressuring companies to cut vices so that it can compete with other discount chains. they have basically telling them it will work. being that i am a traditionalist. the low

investigation and isn't sympathetic. >> irs commissioner wants more money to run a larger bureaucracy. they are not doing the basic work they are supposed to be doing. that is the problem for taxpayers while they are not doing the basic processing well. >> isis said it is unprecedented that a high level democratic is saying more money is needed when irs hasn't been forth coming about harassing conservative organizations. >> thanks. >>> stocks were up today. dow gained 27. s&p 500 finished ahead 6. nasdaq up 41. >>> terrorism more of it in yemen and guilty verdict in boston. we'll talk about all of it with the panel when we come back. you drop 40 grand on a new set of wheels, then... wham! a minivan t-bones you. guess what: your insurance company will only give you 37-thousand to replace it. "depreciation" they claim. "how can my car depreciate before it's first oil change?" you ask. maybe the better question is why do you have that insurance company? with liberty mutual new car replacement, we'll replace the full value of your car. see car insurance in a whole new light. liberty mutual insurance. test test of the test test. test test test. te

the rs does need to be -- the irs does need to be careful stewards of our funding. we have now saved over $2 million a year in nonlabor costs savings. but after budget cuts and hiring freezes over four years, people need to understand that the irs is going to have to do less with less. it means taxpayers will suffer. the problems are that the levels of staffing are insufficient to deliver on our mission. host: that was irs commissioner john koskinen. we want to hear from our viewers ahead of the tax day deadline. is the u.s. task -- tax system fair? we split the numbers according to how they are labeled on the screen. we start with john, on the line for those who may between $61,000 and $100,000 last year. john is: from wisconsin. -- john is calling from wisconsin. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. i am a person who believes that the taxes reflect our values. it is interesting how it has changed over time. my grandfather was a self-made guy, the son of a cheese maker. he eventually became the io of craft -- the ceo of kraft foods. his belief was

even the irs's own taxpayer advocate service admits americans could be facing the worst levels of servicence 2001. so how can you make this year a little less taxing? first, use the irs website for answers to the most common questions. next don't leave money on the table. >> people are either not claiming deductions for which they qualify, or they are not using credits that are available to them. >> reporter: and, finally, watch those typos, using direct deposit gets you a refund faster, but only if the routing numbers are correct. abc news new york. >> important information. get that moneyright away. >> absolutely. the programs are big things people can use if they need help and look at reena crunching numbers. >> i'll crunch them for you, i can't guarantee you'll get a refound. >> do it with a frown. >>> coming up one dance step at a time. the little girl who turned adversity into opportunity. the major setback is now just a speed bump in her rearview mirror in the journey to becoming a ballerina. >>> the uber of cpr, pairing those in need with vehicle teals faster than you call 911. yo

be an accountant. the g.o.p. is sitting on something like seven bills to make this world easier for you and me to bring the irs toeel. they want a taxpayer bill of rights. here's what i don't understand. why do we need a bill of rights? shouldn't they be doing the right job in the first place? >> they certainly should. this is a worthy bill because it codifies the things like right to good service and the right to protest and to have your protest heard if you disagree with your bill. we need to get at the complexity of the system. we counted the number of pages on the irs website devoted solely to obamacare explanations. 3,000 pages. how are people going to digest that? gerri: that's ridiculous. >> that's a rights issue in and of itself. >> no kidding. quick word here. >> i thought we had a bill of rights. i think it's time we stop looking at the irs as the big bogeyman, they work for us. gerri: they're the service providers. we're the customers. absolutely right al. pete, thank you for coming on. appreciate your time. >> my pleasure. gerri: we want to know what you think. here's our question tonight: have you fi

about revealing their names if they have a problem because somehow they will then be disadvantaged in dealing with the irs. i think it's critical for compliance, it's critical for just the operation of the tax system in the united states for every taxpayer to feel comfortable that they're going to be treated fairly no matter who they are, no matter who they voted for in the last election, no matter what organization they belong to, and in particular they're going to be treated fairly even if they have a problem. we encourage not only our employees but taxpayers to let us know if things are not going the way they think they ought to or the way we think they're going to do because the only way we will be able to fix the system, the only way to get better is if we know what the problems are. so my encouragement to any taxpayer is if you have a problem, we are here to help you. is our revenue agents say, we distinguish between those trying to become compliant and those trying to cheat. if you're trying to become compliant and you have a problem, you've had change in circumstances, you have difficulty with you

>> first of all, irs should be called internal revenue. service part isn't there anymore. fault. it's the federal government and not funding them. what's amazing most of the revenue from the country comes in to the internal revenue service and to not have that is not good for the economy. there's no such thing as taking cuts with the irs. you've got to wait in line and you've got to be ruthlessly patient to get to internal revenue service, and analytics will show you that monday is the worst time to call after a holiday is the worst time to call, and it's easier to call on a wednesday, thursday, friday, but really patience is the key to getting through, and can you expect a 30-45 minute wait call in calling the irs, and got to hope on that call that person isn't burned out and is happy to speak to you. liz: yeah, i sympathize in many ways here with the irs, because they are overworked, and again, they are the one agency that b yet they're getting cut. so that is beyond it. but you also say don't go to the local irs office. why not? >> first of all, they're probably not goi

thank you very much for being here with us. ir' based right here in the d.c. area, northern virginia so people can get in touch with you if they're going through something that you went through. you were married to your college sweetheart and then things went upside down. >> it did. i was married to a former n.f.l. player and, you know, just like any other marriage and even in the d.c. area, being married to a politician or even an attorney, most healthy marriages go through some stressful points. i always think of it as either you're going through financial situations or miscommunications or emotional -- i -- emotional abuse. i felt mine was more emotional abuse. >> what made it such a terrible divorce that affected new a negative way? >> it was so much, andrea, that it took four years to actually get through the process. that's what made it more negative with him changing attorneys so many times and-- >> was he trying to prevent you from getting more alimony? what bogged it down for four years? >> changing attorneys. i think it was -- i don't know if he was