S747

An Act requiring the Director of the Division of Taxation to annually report on the Office of the Taxpayer.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. No later than July 1 of each calendar year, the Director of the Division of Taxation shall report to the Legislature, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), on the activities of the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate in the Division of Taxation for the preceding tax year. Any such report shall contain full and substantive analysis, in addition to statistical information, and shall:

(1) identify the initiatives the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate has undertaken to improve taxpayer services and Division of Taxation and Division of Revenue responsiveness;

(2) contain a summary of the most serious problems encountered by taxpayers, including a description of the nature of such problems;

(3) contain an inventory of the items described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of this section for which action has been taken and the result of such action; and an inventory of the items described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of this section for which action remains to be completed and the period during which each item has remained on such inventory, and an inventory of the items described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of this section for which no action has been taken, the period during which each item has remained on such inventory, the reasons for the inaction, and identify any Division of Taxation or Division of Revenue official who is responsible for such inaction;

(4) contain recommendations for such administrative and legislative action as may be appropriate to resolve problems encountered by taxpayers;

(5) identify areas of the tax law or associated business filings that impose significant compliance burdens on taxpayers, the Division of Taxation or the Division of Revenue, including specific recommendations for remedying these problems;

(6) identify the most litigated issues for each category of taxpayer, including recommendations for mitigating such disputes; and

(7) include such other information as the Director of the Division of Taxation may deem advisable.

2. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill requires the Director of the Division of Taxation to annually report to the Legislature on the activities of the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate in the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury. The report, to be submitted by July 1stof each year, and covering the activities of the office during the preceding tax year, must, in addition to containing any other information the Director of the Division of Taxation deems advisable:

· identify the initiatives the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate has taken on improving taxpayer services and division responsiveness;

· summarize the most serious problems encountered by taxpayers;

· inventory the progress of actions taken to implement those initiatives and resolve those taxpayer problems;

· identify any taxpayer assistance order which was not honored in a timely manner;

· contain recommendations for administrative and legislative action;

· identify areas of the tax law or associated business filings that impose significant compliance burdens on taxpayers, or the divisions; and

· identify the most litigated issues for each category of taxpayer, including recommendations for mitigating such disputes.

The Office of the Taxpayer Advocate provides an avenue of independent review for taxpayers with State tax problems, which have been unresolvable through normal channels. The Office of the Taxpayer Advocate is not intended to serve as a substitute for established procedures or the formal appeals process; however, it is tasked with identifying procedures which do not work properly and proposing solutions to alleviate or mitigate the problems identified.