The bill, which passed 426-4, gives taxpayers 28 new rights, protecting them from unfair and intrusive IRS actions. This is the first step to simplify the complex tax laws. We need to go further, and we will. Istook noted that most IRS workers are good people tasked with an impossible job, but a history of abuse and an attitude of omnipotence have dominated the IRS as an institution. The group will have authority to hold the IRS accountable for its policies and actions, power currently held by political appointees at the Treasury Department.
Taxpayers deserve a trial by their peers.
In non-criminal tax suits, you now cannot have a jury trial unless you first pay the money the IRS claims that you owe. The goal should be determining the correct tax, not maximizing the tax. Tax cheats should be pursued vigorously, but the IRS should not automatically distrust taxpayers. An improvement in attitude of service is needed for all government agencies. Istook also expressed interest in replacing the current system with some form of 'flat' tax, but says he wants to keep studying that concept, and has not yet endorsed it.