Evening star., 1924-08-03
q. S, ACTS TO SPEED
TAX APPEAL CASES
Revenue Bureau Adopts New
Code of Regulations Gov
erning Procedure.
COMMITTEE Is CREATED
Handling Is Expected to Bring
Settlement With Taxpayers,
Winston Says.
COMMITTEE is CREATED

With the organization of the, new
Board of Tax Appeals which takes out
side of the Treasury the final decision
in disputed tax cases, the Bureau of
Internal Revenue has set up a new code
of regulations governing procedure in
the handling of cases before appeal is
taken to the high tax court This pro-
cedure includes the creation of a new
committee on review within the Office
of the solicitor Of internal revenue, a
body largely supplanting the old unof-
fetal committees on appeal that func-
toned prior to enactment of the last
revenue law.
The regulations provide that in every
case where deficiency appears to
exist the Internal Revenue Bureau will
give the taxpayer notice Of 30 days. so
that, II he desires, he may file a pro-
lest request hearing and offer evil
dence against the proposed increase
Ihe letter of protest should contain the
name and address of the taxpayer, name
and place of business of the corporation
and the State in which it was incor-
porated, a designation of the year or
years involved, statement of the
amount of tax in dispute, an itemized
schedule of the bureaus findings to
which exception has been taken and a
summary of statements of the grounds
upon which the taxpayer relies in con-
nection with each exception to the find
lngS.
Provision For Appeal.
If the taxpayer presents no protest
WITHIN 80 days of his notification, final
determination will be made and the tax.
payer so notified The taxpayer then
unoer the new law. may appeal the case
out of the hands Of the Bureau of In
ternal Revenue entirely and go into the
open with his argument and evidence
for the tax law provides that all hear
ings before the Tax Appeals Board
must be public and a written record OF
the proceedings made if the amount in
volved exceeds $4,000.
Appeal to the board of appeals
must be made within so days after
the internal revenue commissioner
that final determination has been
made. Accompanying the notice of a
final determination will be a form of
agreement eonsenting % to the assess
meQt, and II the taxpayer decides to
drop his contention he may execute
the form and return it to the bureau,
thus closing the case.
Hopes to Eliminate Work.
In working out this arrangement it
is the hope of the Treasury to elimi-
nate vast amount of work that
OTHERWISE "Oul0 go 10 the TAX DoarQ
and jam its docket In other words,
the Treasury, Acting Secretary Wins
ton said. hopes to reach a settlement
with every taxpayer possible and
serve the double purpose of getting
such revenue as is due into the
Treasury at once and reducing the
number of cases to be heard before
the board of tax appeals.
Before entering the Treasury Mr..
Winston was associated with a Chi
cago law firm, and his experience
there, he said, convinced him that the
average taxpayer was concerned
more with early and final settle
ment of d tax claim than with the
amounts, except, of course. where the
differences are great. In some quar-
terS the belief was expressed that as
result of the establishment of the
new board of appeals outside of the
Treasury officials of the bureau would
adopt more conciliatory attitude in
dealing with taxpayers, for the inde-
peudent board of appeals may over
rule the bureau at any time it finds
ground to do SO. Mr.. Winston agreed
that with the board outside of the
Treasury more rapid disposition of
the cases within the Bureau of Inter-
nal Revenue is likely to take place
in the future.