According to Andrew Keyso, Acting Deputy Director of Appeals, the IRS will be issuing new guidance “within the next few weeks” regarding when it will hold an in-person appeals conferences.
Recently, the IRS made waves when it revised the Internal Revenue Manual to limit when a taxpayer was entitled to an in-person appeals conference. The guidance gave Appeals the discretion regarding when to hold an in-person. In making the decision, Appeals was to consider a limited set of facts and circumstances, such as whether a taxpayer had special needs or whether Appeals would have to consider the credibility of a witness. A taxpayer could request one but the decision rested with the Appeals. The guidance was meant to dramatically limit the number of in-person conferences Appeals would hold.
According to Mr. Keyso, after receiving substantial feedback from the tax community, the IRS will issue new guidance expanding the scope of when in-person meetings will be held.
This is good news for the taxpayer.
Once the new guidance is issued, we will blog about it. Please check back for updates.
