The IRS Wants to Hear From You!

WASHINGTON - People often think they have no chance for input when it comes to government regulations. But the Internal Revenue Service always provides an opportunity for input to its regulations. IRS often hears from businesses, organizations, CPAs, or attorneys, but not much from the average citizen. Most people just don't know how to do it. Now the IRS has made it easy for computer users with access to Internet to let their voices be heard.

After Congress passes laws that become part of the Internal Revenue Code, the IRS writes regulations that help to interpret and apply those laws. But before those regulations become final, they're generally made public as proposed regulations. Anyone can comment on those proposed regulations, and in fact, can even request to testify at a public hearing. But most people don't read the Federal Register, where those regulations are published.

The IRS's home page (http://www.irs.gov) now not only publishes proposed regulations, but also provides a quick and easy way to comment on those regulations. IRS fully considers all comments, and if appropriate, will even make changes to the regulations before they become final.

Once a user is on the "Tax Regs in Plain English" page, the comments section is easy to get to -- by either clicking on the "Comments on Proposed Regs" section on the front page, or the "Comment on Proposed Reg" line after each regulation description. Taxpayers need to comment within 90 days of publication of the proposed regulation, and those who do want to comment might want to keep in mind that their comments are available to the public, so they shouldn't divulge any tax or other confidential information. The IRS can't respond to individual comments, but it will consider every comment it receives.

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