Taxpayer Advocacy Panel program to go on temporary administrative suspension

For more than 20 years, the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP), through its team of dedicated volunteer members, has served a vital function in our tax system by advocating for the interests of taxpayers and offering critical feedback to the IRS. The insights and concerns raised by TAP members have historically played an influential role in shaping policies and redefining services that directly affect taxpayers across the nation and abroad. At this time, however, the TAP program will enter a temporary administrative suspension, effective February 13, 2026.

This will include a suspension on the acceptance of new issues and concerns related to improving IRS processes and taxpayer service. Please return to this page for additional updates as they become available.

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Home > News & Events>National Taxpayer Advocate Erin M. Collins releases her 2021 Annual Report to Congress
January 12, 2022

National Taxpayer Advocate Erin M. Collins releases her 2021 Annual Report to Congress

National Taxpayer Advocate Erin M. Collins released her 2021 Annual Report to Congress, calling calendar year 2021 “the most challenging year taxpayers and tax professionals have ever experienced.” The report says tens of millions of taxpayers experienced delays in the processing of their returns, and with 77 percent of individual taxpayers receiving refunds, “processing delays translated directly into refund delays.”

In her preface to the report, Collins wrote, “There is no way to sugarcoat the year 2021 in tax administration. The year 2021 provided no shortage of taxpayer problems.” Collins added, “While my report focuses primarily on the problems of 2021, I am deeply concerned about the upcoming filing season,” adding that “Paper is the IRS’s kryptonite, and the agency is still buried in it.”

The report identifies the ten most serious problems encountered by taxpayers in their dealings with the IRS. The report also contains a taxpayer rights assessment that presents performance measures and other relevant data, a summary of key TAS systemic advocacy accomplishments, a discussion of the ten federal tax issues most frequently litigated during the preceding year, and a description of TAS’s case advocacy operations during FY 2021.

The National Taxpayer Advocate’s 2022 Purple Book proposes 68 legislative recommendations for consideration by Congress. These legislative recommendations are designed to strengthen taxpayer rights and improve tax administration.

Please visit https://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/AnnualReport2021 for more information.