This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Pittsburgh Area Resident Selected for IRS Taxpayer Advocacy Panel

A Pittsburgh area woman was recently selected by the Treasury Department to serve on the nationwide Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP). Panel members listen to taxpayers, identify issues and make suggestions for improving Internal Revenue Service (IRS service and customer satisfaction.

 

Jeanne Matthews, a resident of South Park, Pa., is one of 72 volunteers serving on the panel. She will represent local taxpayers as well as work on national issues. Upon her selection, Matthews, a retired Senior Course Administrator for the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, in Pittsburgh, said, "It sounded like a great opportunity to get involved to help make recommendations and possibly improvement within the IRS."

Find out what's happening in West Chesterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

 

TAP members devote 200 to 300 hours yearly to the panel. Members work with IRS executives on priority topics and also serve as a conduit for grassroots issues between the public and the IRS. Some of the professions represented on the panel include teachers, engineers, attorneys, public administrators, home makers, accountants, law enforcement officers, professors, and retired military and small business owners.

Find out what's happening in West Chesterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

 

Oversight and program support for the TAP are provided by the Taxpayer Advocate Service, an independent organization within the IRS that helps resolve taxpayer problems and makes recommendations to avoid future problems.

 

"To meet the needs of the taxpaying public, it is critical that the IRS listen to taxpayers to hear what their needs and preferences are," said Nina E. Olson, National Taxpayer Advocate and head of the Taxpayer Advocate Service. "The citizen volunteers who serve on the TAP are, first and foremost, taxpayers who bring a taxpayer perspective to bear in advising on the IRS's taxpayer service activities." The IRS has made a commitment to listen to ideas from TAP members.

 

Taxpayers can contact Jeanne Matthews and the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel by calling 1-888-912-1227 or via the Internet at www.improveirs.org. Taxpayers can also write to the Panel at: Taxpayer Advocacy Panel, 211 West Wisconsin Ave., STOP 1006MIL, Milwaukee, WI 53203.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?