Administrative:
Oregon DOR Launches its Newly Established Office of the Taxpayer Advocate

News Release: Revenue launches Taxpayer Advocate Office, Or. Dept. of Rev. (1/3/22); Taxpayer Advocate, Or. Dept. of Rev. (12/21). The Oregon Department of Revenue (Department), addressing legislation enacted in 2021 [see H.B. 3373 (2021) and State Tax Matters, Issue 2021-29, for more details on this 2021 legislation], officially launched the “Office of the Taxpayer Advocate” (OTA) within the Department that became operative as of January 1, 2022 and which, according to the Department, “is both a voice and a resource to reduce barriers to voluntary compliance for taxpayers.” Specifically, the Department explains that the OTA will:

• Identify issues or barriers to equitable and fair tax collection;
• Identify meaningful ways to work with community partners, especially in efforts to reach previously underserved populations;
• Provide expedited service to taxpayers whose problems are not resolved through ordinary channels and receive and evaluate complaints of improper, abusive, or inefficient service by agency employees;
• Identify systemic issues and make recommendations to address them;
• Promote taxpayer issues and concerns to Department policymakers and state legislators;
• Provide another access point to Department information; and
• Problem-solve and suggest options to taxpayer dilemmas that exist through normal channels of which the taxpayer may not have been aware.

According to a recent news release, the OTA has “the authority to issue taxpayer assistance orders to compel the agency to act in an individual taxpayer’s case.” Please contact us with any questions.