(Washington, DC) - Congressman Charles W. Boustany, Jr., MD, (R-LA), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) and the 2012 tax return filing season.  The hearing will take place on Thursday, March 22, 2012, in Room 1100 of the Longworth House Office Building, beginning at 9:30 A.M.

In announcing the hearing, Chairman Boustany said,“The Subcommittee looks forward to hearing from Commissioner Shulman about steps being taken by the Agency to deliver timely service to American taxpayers during this filing season.  In addition to a discussion of the current budget request, I am also particularly interested to learn more about how the agency is using its current budget to administer tax enforcement initiatives that protect taxpayer dollars from fraud.”

BACKGROUND:

In fiscal year 2011, the IRS collected $2.4 trillion in taxes, processed 144.7 million individual tax returns, and issued $345 billion in refunds.  With the 2012 tax return filing season underway, the Subcommittee will review IRS performance with a focus on taxpayer service, taxpayer rights, and refund administration. 

In conjunction with the review of the current tax return filing season, the Subcommittee will review IRS operations in general.  Specifically, the Subcommittee will consider: (1) the recently reported delays in tax refunds; (2) fairness in examinations and tax administration; and (3) efforts to prevent fraud, waste, and abuse.  As part of its consideration of IRS operations, the Subcommittee will also review the Administration’s fiscal year 2013 budget proposal for the IRS of $16.1 billion, an increase of $1.3 billion over the fiscal year 2012 enacted level. 

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