The IRS Office of Chief Counsel is tasked with representing the IRS in tax controversies before the U.S. Tax Court. But its mission is broad:
Serve America’s taxpayers fairly and with integrity by providing correct and impartial interpretation of the internal revenue laws and the highest quality legal advice and representation for the Internal Revenue Service.
While IRS Counsel represents the IRS in litigated cases, its goal in those cases is to get to the correct result. Recognizing that unrepresented taxpayers in pending U.S. Tax Court cases lack access to quality legal advice, IRS Counsel implemented a program to help unrepresented taxpayers receive legal advice and limited representation. The Settlement Days program was first developed at the end of 2019, and timely implemented soon after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In his prior life, our own Nick was part of the initial cadre at IRS Counsel that developed and implemented the Settlement Days program. The program enjoyed wide support within the IRS, and the Settlement Days cadre received a number of IRS awards.
The Settlement Days program brings together unrepresented taxpayers with pending U.S. Tax Court cases with volunteer attorneys. After receiving advice about their case, taxpayers can then meet with their volunteer attorney and an attorney from the IRS Office of Chief Counsel to try to resolve their pending tax dispute. Other personnel from the IRS, including revenue agents and revenue officers, are also available to assist the parties in resolving the tax dispute. Revenue agents are able to help IRS attorneys review documents, and, after cases are settled, if there is a resulting tax liability, revenue officers are available to assist taxpayers in resolving the balances due. Moreover, Taxpayer Advocate Service personnel may be available to assist taxpayers with issues they may have in non-docketed years.
Local IRS Counsel field offices may hold Settlement Days a few months prior to a trial session. Tax professionals can look for opportunities to volunteer for those events with their local Low Income Taxpayer Clinics. In addition, IRS Counsel holds three nationwide Virtual Settlement Weeks, which seek to pair tax professionals with unrepresented taxpayers around the country. Those unrepresented taxpayers are then able to meet with a tax professional and IRS personnel to try to resolve the tax dispute. Tax professionals interested in volunteering to help taxpayers can volunteer for the Virtual Settlement Week here:
https://www.americanbar.org/