Oregon Taxpayer Advocates

This is an interview with paralegal Adriana Pedraza and attorney Jonathan Mishkin discussing the new office for the Taxpayer Advocate. They discuss what a Taxpayer Advocate is and how it help the taxpayers.

Video Transcript:

Adriana: Thanks for joining Jonathan Mishkin, a trusted expert in tax law and tax controversy.
I’m your host and Jonathan’s paralegal Adriana Pedraza.
Today Jonathan discusses the new Oregon Taxpayer Advocate.
Hello Jonathan, what is a Taxpayer Advocate, and how does this new office affect Oregonians?

Jonathan: Thanks Adriana. Hello everybody.

Similar to what the IRS has, the Taxpayer Advocate is this independent office that acts as sort of a “go-between” the Department of Revenue – in this case – and the taxpayer, when you’re sort of in an administrative hang-up.

It allows a quicker resolution of issues that you may have.
The goal of the Oregon Taxpayer Advocate, according to the website, says they will provide opportunities to proactively connect with taxpayers and form collaborative partnerships with community-based organizations.
These efforts will contribute to the ability of a taxpayer to have a voice within the department of revenue, which will help with procedural equity and fairness.
This was created in the legislature in the 2021 session, and the office was just launched last month, as i’ve already spoken to this person two times.

The main goals here with the taxpayer advocate is to identify issues or barriers to collection and making sure that tax collection is fair, providing expeditious service to taxpayers whose problems are not resolved through ordinary channels; including talking to an agent or customer service.
That’s probably the most important thing.

They are there when you have essentially administrative -.

They’re going to also be available to receive and evaluate complaints of improper abusive or inefficient service from agency employees. They’re also going to look for ways to improve and enhance our system and make recommendations to the department to be more efficient.
And the final thing I want to point out; they were granted the authority to issue what are called “taxpayer assistance orders” which will compel the department of revenue to take particular action with a taxpayer.
I think it’s very important we, as lawyers, have been asking for a taxpayer advocate for years so I’m very happy to report that we have one who can act as a good “go-between” us and the department of revenue.

Adriana: That’s great, thanks Jonathan.
If you need assistance with tax planning or to resolve your tax debt, please log on to our website at www.jmishkinlaw.com to schedule a consulting consultation with Jonathan Mishkin.