Stephen M. Moskowitz Tax Planning Law Blog on Lawyers.com

IRS Urged To Look At Needs Of Small Business Taxpayers

Wednesday, January 19, 2011 by Stephen M. Moskowitz

IRS Urged To Look At Needs Of Small Business Taxpayers, by Mike Godfrey, Tax-News.com, Washington 

The United States’ Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is taking steps to improve customer service to small business and self-employed taxpayers, but it still needs to conduct research to identify their needs and preferences, according to a new report released by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).

The IRS’s Small Business/Self-Employed (SB/SE) Division serves approximately 57m taxpayers, representing roughly one-third of the overall taxpayer base and consisting mainly of self-employed individuals, small business corporations and partnerships with assets of less than USD10m.

The SB/SE supports the IRS’s goal of improving customer service by educating and informing these taxpayers of their tax obligations, and developing educational products and services to help them understand and comply with applicable laws.

The IRS attributes USD148bn, or 43%, of the 'tax gap' to unreported income earned by unincorporated businesses and the associated unpaid self-employment tax. The Tax Gap represents the difference between what taxpayers owe the federal government and what they actually pay on time.

“The IRS conducts research on individual taxpayers so it can incorporate their needs when making service improvement decisions, but it has only begun to conduct comparable research concerning the needs of the small business taxpayer,” said J. Russell George, the TIGTA. “As a significant portion of the tax gap is attributed to small businesses and self-employed taxpayers, understanding more about their needs could yield dividends.”

For more information on tax planning visit www.stevemoskowitz.com

Posted at 13:43 PM
Topic: Tax Planning
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