Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Members Selected for 2018

IR-2018-67, March 21, 2018

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service recommended and the Department of the Treasury has approved the selection of 25 new members to serve on the nationwide Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP). The TAP is a federal advisory committee charged with providing taxpayer suggestions to improve IRS customer service.

The new TAP members will join 40 returning members to round out the panel of 65 volunteers for 2018. See the list below for member names. The new members were selected from more than 700 interested individuals who applied during an open recruitment period last spring and the pool of alternate members who applied in prior years.

The TAP listens to taxpayers, identifies issues, and makes suggestions for improving IRS service and customer satisfaction. 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 administrative and legislative recommendations to mitigate systemic 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, the National Taxpayer Advocate. “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.”

TAP members work with IRS executives on a variety of topics, with an emphasis on those involving the Wage & Investment and Small Business/Self-Employed operating divisions. Members also serve as conduits for bringing grassroots concerns raised by the taxpaying public to the attention of the IRS.

TAP members are U.S. citizens who volunteer to serve a three-year appointment and are expected to devote 200 to 300 hours per year to panel activities. To the extent possible, TAP members are demographically and geographically diverse, providing balanced representation from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. In addition, there is one TAP member from abroad who represents the interests of taxpayers working, living, or doing business abroad or in a U.S. territory.

Taxpayers can contact the TAP representative for their geographic area by calling 888-912-1227 (a toll-free call) or online. (https://improveirs.org/) Taxpayers can also send written correspondence to the TAP at the following address:

Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP)
TA: TAP, Room 1509
1111 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20224

2018 TAP New and Returning Members, by location:

* = New member