IRS customer service leaves millions of calls unanswered

Have a question on your tax returns? Don't ask the IRS. 

As tax day looms, an annual watchdog report to Congress finds that the agency is falling short when it comes to answering Americans' questions about the convoluted tax code. 

The National Taxpayer Advocate found only 61 percent of people seeking to speak with a customer service representative last year got through to anybody -- leaving nearly 20 million calls unanswered. 

The report largely blamed budget cuts, and lamented the impact the poor customer service is having on taxpayers. 

"At the risk of vast understatement, it is a sad state of affairs when the government writes tax laws as complex as ours -- and then is unable to answer any questions beyond 'basic' ones from baffled citizens who are doing their best to comply," the report from National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson said. 

The study detailed how customer service has steadily declined over the past several years, including at its 400 "walk-in sites." In fiscal 2014, the office said, the IRS will only answer "basic" questions at those sites during filing season. And it will not answer any questions, "even basic ones," after April, even for filers who got extensions. 

"In addition, the IRS will discontinue its longstanding practice of preparing tax returns for low income, elderly and disabled taxpayers who seek help," the report said. 

Via: Fox News Politics

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Romneys to Release Taxes

The Romney campaign is releasing Mitt and Ann Romney's 2011 tax return today. The campaign previews a few of the highlights here:

• In 2011, the Romneys paid $1,935,708 in taxes on $13,696,951 in mostly investment income.

• The Romneys’ effective tax rate for 2011 was 14.1%.

• The Romneys donated $4,020,772 to charity in 2011, amounting to nearly 30% of their income.

• The Romneys claimed a deduction for $2.25 million of those charitable contributions.

• The Romneys’ generous charitable donations in 2011 would have significantly reduced their tax obligation for the year. The Romneys thus limited their deduction of charitable contributions to conform to the Governor's statement in August, based upon the January estimate of income, that he paid at least 13% in income taxes in each of the last 10 years.

Additionally, the Romney campaign is releasing a summary of 20 years of taxes, between 1990-2009, detailing their tax expenditures during those years:

• In each year during the entire 20-year period, the Romneys owed both state and federal income taxes.

• Over the entire 20-year period, the average annual effective federal tax rate was 20.20%.

• Over the entire 20-year period, the lowest annual effective federal personal tax rate was 13.66%.

• Over the entire 20-year period, the Romneys gave to charity an average of 13.45% of their adjusted gross income.

• Over the entire 20-year period, the total federal and state taxes owed plus the total charitable donations deducted represented 38.49% of total AGI.

UPDATE: Here's Mitt and Ann Romney's 2011 tax return:

Mitt and Ann Romney 2011 1040

Via: The Weekly Standard

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Romney campaign doesn't bite on Obama tax return offer

"Thanks for the note" -- but no thanks. 

That was the response Friday from the Romney team after Obama's campaign manager tried once again to wrench more tax documents from the Republican president candidate, this time by offering to refrain from criticizing Mitt Romney's transparency if he agrees to release five more years of returns. 

Romney campaign manager Matt Rhoades wrote a brief email to Obama campaign manager Jim Messina dismissing the offer. 

"Thanks for the note. It is clear that President Obama wants nothing more than to talk about Governor Romney's tax returns instead of the issues that matter to voters, like putting Americans back to work, fixing the economy and reining in spending," he wrote. "If Governor Romney's tax returns are the core message of your campaign, there will be ample time for President Obama to discuss them over the next 81 days." 

The Obama campaign offer came after Romney said a day earlier that he's "never paid less than 13 percent" in taxes over the last 10 years. 

Messina, pressing Romney once again for documentation, wrote that he wanted to offer "assurances" to allay Romney's concerns that releasing additional tax returns would just feed the Democrats' appetite for more. 

Via: Fox News

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Pelosi: Harry Reid’s accusation against Romney is ‘true’ and ‘a fact’

Rep. Nancy Pelosi D-Calif. is backing up  Sen. Harry Reid D-Nev. baseless accusation that Mitt Romney hasn’t paid taxes for ten years.

“Harry Reid made a statement that is true. Somebody told him. It is a fact,” Pelosi told The Huffington Post in a Sunday interview. “Whether he did or not can easily be disposed of: Mitt Romney can release his tax returns and show whether he paid taxes.”

Pelosi also added that “Harry Reid is a person who is, as we know, A, is a fighter, B, he wouldn’t say this unless it was true that somebody told him that.”

Reid has attacked Romney, in recent days – with permission from Obama’s re-election campaign – insisting that he was told by “an extremely credible source that Romney has not paid taxes for ten years.”

Via: Washington Post

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