ms. olsonnistering social programs at which the irs has historically failed. taxpayers trying to do the right thing regarding the tax responsibility shouldn't have to be put on hold or have to call back because the irs is now answering questions about the health insurance. i thank you mr. chairman for holding the hearing so we can discuss in greater length these particular issues. >> thank you, senator. our first witness is mr. miller. mr. miller is a deputy commissioner for services enforcement and revenue@@rrrr)$r proceeded smoothly with some noteworthy gains. telephone level of system has improved over the last year. our accuracy remains high. with respect to the returns,er-file is up to almost 80%, continuing a very positive trend. and in the challenging economy, it's good news that the average refund is over $2900 at this point. up by 9.4% as compared to last year. the irs has taken several other additional steps this tax season to help. one the most recent and most significant is new flex

let me ask ms. olson one the issues that you and i spoke about when you were kind enough to come by my office a few weeks ago was this whole issue of liens and the concern that you've expressed about the irs lien filing policies causing harm to taxpayers without necessarily increasing irs revenue collections in the process. i guess i'd just ask if you could describe the concern you got and the solution you think we should consider. >> well, what we identified was that irs over the last few years has been instituted policies where liens are essentially filed automatically. if the taxpayer meets certain requirements of without really looking at the taxpayer specific facts and circumstances. and we look further into what the effect of that lien filing on the taxpayer? we learned that it caused the taxpayer credit score to plummet 100 points immediately and even when the taxpayer paid off of the lean or it expired after time it sat on the credit report for years and years and years. even though it might not b

one last question, ms. olson, another great frustration is, that they get different answers from the irs on a particular problem. you hear this from preparers, businesses, from individuals. you hear about differences between irs regional offices where you call what the regional officer and tell you one thing, you call another and you get another. this destroys the prospect of certainty and predictability. the same is true for individuals and preparers. they feel very frustrated as well. how serious is this problem of getting consistent answers from the irs and what ought to be done with it? >> this is the result of the complexity of all, and the response when there actressy went them several years ago was limit the questions that they would answer. have gone a very high accuracy rate in the 1990's -- in a 9the0 %'s on their onw. the problem is that the law is very complex and difficult for employees to enter a particular taxpayer's question accurately, consistently. >> they are trying to solve the problem by pret

this concludes my oral testimony and will be happy to take any questions. >> ms. olson?r. chairman ranking member grassley and members of the committee thank you for inviting me today to discuss the 2010 tax filing season of like to begin by commending the ira's response 21 problem identified in 2002 and this year the need to improve oversight of the return preparation industry since 2002 there has been considerable support for regulation including legislation passed by the full senate generate 2010 the irs issued a report setting out a blueprint to do the job itself while the devil is in the details when fully implemented i believe this initiative to improve tax administration significantly helping taxpayers locate qualify prepares to establish clearer requirements of ethics and compliance and even shutting down and ethical prepares and with respect to the 2010 filing season i designate the inability of the irs to answer taxpayer from calls as the number one most serious problem for taxpayers the target for the current fiscal year is to answer only 71% of the call seeki

ms. olsondministering social programs at which the irs has historically failed. taxpayers trying to do the right thing regarding the tax responsibility shouldn't have to be put on hold or have to call back because the irs is now answering questions about the health insurance. i thank you mr. chairman for holding the hearing so we can discuss in greater length these particular issues. >> thank you, senator. our first witness is mr. miller. mr. miller is a deputy commissioner for services enforcement and revenue service. next witness is ms. nin aolson, the national tax advocate at the irs. thank you both very much. i think you know the drill. we'll include your prepared statement. we urge you to summarize each in about five minutes. >> can i explain to our distinguished witnesses, i'm going to be in and out because of the judiciary down the hallway. i'll be back for questions later on. >> thank you, mr. chairman, ranking member grassley, and members of the committee. i thank you for the opportuni

a couple of points, one, of course, ms. olson, if you simplify the tax, you know, system, it'll be easier to collect taxes owed, isn't that correct? >> one would hope so, yes. now the overwhelming majority of taxpayers in this country are honest, they are people who work hard and they play by the rules. there is just no question about that. but it seems to me that taxpayers that i'm speaking about, the overwhelming majority who are honest often make inadvertent errors, they end up over paying their taxes, or they under pay their taxes because the system is so complicated, it's not possible to get an accurate assessment of what's owed. how rev hasn't is that? i'm struck when i listens to folks at home in oregon that there is a very, very substantial problem. could you kind of put some numbers around it? how much people honestly trying to comply with tax law get snared in this bureaucratic, you know, water torture and even over or under pay? >> the only number that is i have seen from the 2001 national research program audits of in

ms. nina olson. ms. olson has helped us develop policies that have improved the lives of taxpayers.as widespread support from consumer, labor and industry organizations. mr. president, the text of an amendment i had developed which clarifies that the s.e.c. has authority to effectively require disclosures prior to the sale of financial products and services is included in the legislation. many working families rely on their mutual fund investments and other financial products to pay for their children's education, prepare for retirement and attain other financial goals. we must ensure that working families have the relevant and useful information they need when they are making decisions that determine their future financial condition. i appreciate the efforts of senator michael bennet on this issue. mr. president, i worked with senator kohl to develop title 12 of the legislation which is intended to increase access to mainstream financial institutions for the unbanked and the underbanked. many are low- and moderate-income families that cannot afford to have their earnings diminished

let me ask ms. olson one the issues that you and i spoke about when you were kind enough to come by my office a few weeks ago was this whole issue of liens and the concern that you've expressed about the irs lien filing policies causing harm to taxpayers without necessarily increasing irs revenue collections in the process. i guess i'd just ask if you could describe the concern you got and the solution you think we should consider. >> well, what we identified was that irs over the last few years has been instituted policies where liens are essentially filed automatically. if the taxpayer meets certain requirements of without really looking at the taxpayer specific facts and circumstances. and we look further into what the effect of that lien filing on the taxpayer? we learned that it caused the taxpayer credit score to plummet 100 points immediately and even when the taxpayer paid off of the lean or it expired after time it sat on the credit report for years and years and years. even though it might not b