A decision has yet to be finalized on the availability of a walk-in taxpayer assistance center that allows those who wish to talk with an IRS employee to get advice, assist in filing, explain a notice or figure out how to properly handle their situation through the agency, according to Tim Feldman, president of the local chapter of the National Treasury Employees Union.
“If I’m a resident of West Chester or Butler or Warren counties, I would be most concerned about that part of the function, because that’s where I can go … to get tax help,” Feldman said.
Closure of the West Chester Twp. office — the lease there expires in February — would mean area residents will need to drive to Cincinnati or Dayton, costing them time, gas and parking, he said.
Last year, the IRS announced an office space and rent reduction initiative, one that will lead to the permanent closure of 43 smaller offices and reduction in space for some larger facilities by 2014. The initiative was projected to save $17.2 million in annual rental costs in fiscal 2012 and $23.5 million in fiscal 2013, by cutting space by 715,000 square feet in fiscal 2012 and 230,000 square feet in fiscal 2013. That, said the agency, is is on top of a 105,000-square-foot reduction in fiscal 2011.
Those measures will save more than $40 million in taxpayer dollars and, coupled with space reductions last year, the initiative will slash total IRS office space by more than one million square feet, according to the agency.
However, that announcement said none of the offices being closed under the initiative are walk-in taxpayer assistance centers, unlike the West Chester Twp. office, which offers a full-time TAC option.
IRS officials could not be reached Tuesday due to the government shutdown.
Another benefit of having the office in West Chester Twp. is that it’s convenient to Interstate 75 for truckers, who must pay an excise tax, Feldman said.
“They can easily access that office, find a place to park and walk over,” he said. “They’re probably not going to be doing the same thing coming downtown to 550 Main Street and navigating the downtown streets.”
Feldman said while the office is not the only way to pay that tax, not having it around means the elimination of a convenient in-person option.
Those moving to the Cincinnati office as a result of the closure will predominantly be revenue officers who handle collections, several revenue agents who perform examinations and criminal investigation employees.
The agency has more than 600 offices nationwide.
Feldman said the IRS has offered a tax assistance center in West Chester Twp. for about 10 years, after providing locations in the Tri-County area and Hamilton.
“It’s had a history of bouncing around, but it’s never been eliminated,” he said.
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