This bill enhances the Taxpayer Advocate's office by granting authority to appoint counsel and modifying employment language, effective retroactively to 1998.
Randy Feenstra
Representative
IA-4
The "National Taxpayer Advocate Enhancement Act of 2025" allows the Taxpayer Advocate to directly appoint counsel who will report to them. It modifies the language regarding who the Taxpayer Advocate's office can employ. These changes are retroactive to 1998.
| Party | Total Votes | Yes | No | Did Not Vote |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | 217 | 192 | 0 | 25 |
Democrat | 213 | 193 | 0 | 20 |
Bill Allows National Taxpayer Advocate to Appoint Own Legal Counsel Directly
The National Taxpayer Advocate Enhancement Act of 2025 makes a specific structural change within the IRS: it formally authorizes the National Taxpayer Advocate (NTA) to appoint their own legal counsel. This counsel will report directly to the NTA, essentially creating an in-house legal team dedicated solely to the Advocate's office. The bill also adjusts related employment language and applies these changes retroactively, as if they were part of the major IRS reforms enacted back in 1998.
Giving the Watchdog Legal Teeth
So, what does this mean in practice? The National Taxpayer Advocate runs the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS), which acts as an independent voice for taxpayers within the IRS bureaucracy. Think of them as your potential ally if you're facing a significant problem with the agency that you can't resolve through normal channels. Giving the NTA the explicit power to hire their own lawyers, who answer only to them, is designed to bolster that independence. Instead of relying on legal interpretations that might filter through the broader IRS structure, the NTA gets dedicated legal support focused purely on the TAS mission. For someone tangled in a complex audit or collection dispute, this could translate to the TAS having sharper legal tools to argue their case or navigate internal IRS procedures more effectively on the taxpayer's behalf.
A Technical Tune-Up
The retroactive part might sound odd, but it's essentially a technical correction. It aligns the NTA's authority with what was likely intended under the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, which established the modern TAS. This isn't about reopening old cases; it's about ensuring the NTA's operational structure is legally solid going forward, based on the original goals of that '98 reform. Ultimately, this legislation is an internal, administrative adjustment aimed at strengthening the Taxpayer Advocate Service's ability to fulfill its role: helping taxpayers resolve issues and protecting taxpayer rights.