Opportunities Abound to Connect With IRS, NPL Director Says

Payroll professionals have numerous ways to work with and provide feedback to the Internal Revenue Service and other federal agencies, the director of the IRS’s National Public Liaison said March 20.

The NPL is the liaison between the IRS and professional organizations like the American Payroll Association and manages external and internal stakeholder relations, the NPL’s director, Melvin Hardy, said.

Other NPL responsibilities include running advisory committees, arranging speaking engagements for IRS leaders, and organizing the IRS Nationwide Tax Forums, Hardy said. The NPL also sends out the IRS’s E-News for Tax Professionals newsletter and manages its social media pages, Hardy said.

Hardy spoke at the American Payroll Association’s Capital Summit in Arlington, Virginia.

Speakers at NPL events include IRS commissioners and deputy commissioners, attorneys from the Office of Chief Counsel, and officials from other areas of the IRS such as the National Taxpayer Advocate, Criminal Investigations, the Office of Servicewide Penalties, and Tax Forms and Publications, Hardy said.

Former IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig spoke at APA events; other successes the IRS and APA have had together include APA participation in planning the IRS’s monthly payroll industry teleconference, participation in the IRS’s Security Summit, and input on legislative and form changes including the Taxpayer First Act, Hardy said.

Two major advisory committees are the Internal Revenue Service Advisory Council (IRSAC) and the Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee (ETAAC), Hardy said. “These are very prestigious advisory committees,” he said, adding that other federal agencies have similar advisory councils, and professionals apply to participate.

Martin Armstrong, CPP, the chair of Bloomberg Tax’s Payroll Advisory Board, is the chair of IRSAC in 2023.

The IRS’s most important annual outreach event is its Nationwide Tax Forums, which are organized by NPL, Hardy said.

The events are planned to be held in five cities in 2023 after being held virtually in 2020 through 2022. Each attracts thousands of participants with seminars available at the events and on-demand, Hardy said.

Other meetings that the NPL organizes includes monthly practitioner meetings, the monthly payroll industry teleconference, and the quarterly Reporting Agent Forum (RAF) and National Small Business Forum, Hardy said.

The RAF meets in-person and virtually in the Washington, D.C., area, in February, May, August, and November, Hardy said. The meetings include other agencies, such as the Social Security Administration and the Treasury Department’s Bureau of Fiscal Services, he said.