Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 112 Part 1.djvu/729

 PUBLIC LAW 105-206—JULY 22, 1998 112 STAT. 703 "(G) information regarding any administrative or civil actions with respect to violations of the fair debt collection provisions of section 6304, including— "(i) a summary of such actions initiated since the date of the last report; and "(ii) a summary of any judgments or awards granted as a result of such actions. " (2) SEMIANNUAL REPORTS.— "(A) IN GENERAL. —The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration shall include in each semiannual report under section 5 of the Inspector General Act of 1978— "(i) the number of taxpayer complaints during the reporting period; "(ii) the number of employee misconduct and taxpayer abuse allegations received by the Internal Revenue Service or the Inspector General during the period from taxpayers. Internal Revenue Service employees, and other sources; "(iii) a summary of the status of such complaints and allegations; and "(iv) a summary of the disposition of such complaints and allegations, including the outcome of any Department of Justice action and any monies paid as a settlement of such complaints and allegations. "(B) Clauses (iii) and (iv) of subparagraph (A) shall Applicability, only apply to complaints and allegations of serious employee misconduct. " (3) OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration shall— "(A) conduct periodic audits of a statistically valid sample of the total number of determinations made by the Internal Revenue Service to deny written requests to disclose information to taxpayers on the basis of section 6103 of this title or section 552(b)(7) of title 5, United States Code; and "(B) establish and maintain a toll-free telephone number for taxpayers to use to confidentially register complaints of misconduct by Internal Revenue Service employ- ees and incorporate the telephone number in the statement required by section 6227 of the Omnibus Taxpayer Bill of Rights (Internal Revenue Service Publication No. 1).". (b) NOTICE OF RIGHT TO CONTACT OFFICE INCLUDED IN NOTICE OF DEFICIENCY. — Section 6212(a) (relating to notice of deficiency) is amended by adding at the end the following new sentence: "Such notice shall include a notice to the taxpayer of the taxpayer's right to contact a local office of the taxpayer advocate and the location and phone number of the appropriate office.". (c) EXPANSION OF AUTHORITY TO ISSUE TAXPAYER ASSISTANCE ORDERS.— Section 7811(a) (relating to taxpayer assistance orders) is amended to read as follows: " (a) AUTHORITY TO ISSUE. — "(1) IN GENERAL. —Upon application filed by a taxpayer with the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate (in such form, manner, and at such time as the Secretary shall by regulations prescribe), the National Taxpayer Advocate may issue a Taxpayer Assistance Order if— Communications and telecommunication. Regulations.

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