ADVISORY

FROM THE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS

SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT

Lewis Announces a Hearing on Internal Revenue Service Operations and the Tax Gap

House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee Chairman John Lewis (D-GA) today announced that the Subcommittee on Oversight will hold a hearing on Internal Revenue Service (IRS) operations, the 2007 tax return filing season, and the “tax gap.”  The hearing will take place on Tuesday, March 20, 2007, in the main Committee hearing room, 1100 Longworth House Office Building, beginning at 10:00 a.m. 

The Commissioner of  IRS, the Honorable Mark W. Everson, will be the only witness at the hearing.  Any individual or organization not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the Committee and for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing.

FOCUS OF THE HEARING:

The IRS is responsible for administering federal tax laws.  In 2006, IRS collected $2.4 trillion in taxes and processed 140 million individual and corporate income tax returns.  The Subcommittee will review overall IRS operations, the status of the current tax return filing season, and the “tax gap,” which is a term used to describe the amount of unpaid taxes owed to the federal government.

The Subcommittee will review IRS operations and tax administration priorities in the areas of taxpayer services, examinations, collections, and modernization.  As part of this review, the Subcommittee will examine the Administration’s budget and staffing levels for IRS as proposed in the President’s Fiscal Year 2008 Budget for the IRS.                         

The Subcommittee will discuss the status of the current tax return filing season, including the large number of unclaimed telephone tax refunds, and consider areas where IRS can better assist taxpayers in their efforts to comply with their tax obligations.  Also, the Subcommittee will discuss tax fraud schemes and tax scams that IRS has identified this year.

The Subcommittee will examine the estimated annual $345 billion tax gap, identify components of the tax gap, and discuss ways IRS can improve individual and corporate tax compliance.  Specifically, the Subcommittee will review the Administration’s proposals for addressing the tax gap as recommended in the President’s Fiscal Year 2008 Budget for IRS.

In announcing the hearing, Chairman Lewis said, "Our tax system is based on honesty and integrity.  It is the Subcommittee’s responsibility to ensure that our voluntary tax system operates properly and Americans pay their fair share."

DETAILS FOR SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN COMMENTS:

Please Note:  Any person(s) and/or organization(s) wishing to submit for the hearing record must follow the appropriate link on the hearing page of the Committee website and complete the informational forms.  From the Committee homepage, http://waysandmeans.house.gov/, select "110th Congress" from the menu entitled, "Committee Hearings” (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/Hearings.asp?congress=18).  Select the hearing for which you would like to submit, and click on the link entitled, "Click here to provide a submission for the record."  Once you have followed the online instructions, completing all informational forms and clicking "submit" on the final page, an email will be sent to the address which you supply confirming your interest in providing a submission for the record.  You MUST REPLY to the email and ATTACH your submission as a Word or WordPerfect document, in compliance with the formatting requirements listed below, by close of business Tuesday, April 3, 2007.  Finally, please note that due to the change in House mail policy, the U.S. Capitol Police will refuse sealed-package deliveries to all House Office Buildings.  For questions, or if you encounter technical problems, please call (202) 225-1721.

FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS:

The Committee relies on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record. As always, submissions will be included in the record according to the discretion of the Committee. The Committee will not alter the content of your submission, but we reserve the right to format it according to our guidelines. Any submission provided to the Committee by a witness, any supplementary materials submitted for the printed record, and any written comments in response to a request for written comments must conform to the guidelines listed below. Any submission or supplementary item not in compliance with these guidelines will not be printed, but will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.             

1.   All submissions and supplementary materials must be provided in Word or WordPerfect format and MUST NOT exceed a total of 10 pages, including attachments.  Witnesses and summiteers are advised that the Committee relies on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record.

2.  Copies of whole documents submitted as exhibit material will not be accepted for printing.  Instead, exhibit material should be referenced and quoted or paraphrased.  All exhibit material not meeting these specifications will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.

3.  All submissions must include a list of all clients, persons, and/or organizations on whose behalf the witness appears.  A supplemental sheet must accompany each submission listing the name, company, address, telephone and fax numbers of each witness.

Note:  All Committee advisories and news releases are available on the World Wide Web at http://waysandmeans.house.gov.

The Committee seeks to make its facilities accessible to persons with disabilities. If you are in need of special accommodations, please call 202-225-1721 or 202-226-3411 TTD/TTY in advance of the event (four business days notice is requested). Questions with regard to special accommodation needs in general (including availability of Committee materials in alternative formats) may be directed to the Committee as noted above.

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