No, really, they do. The IRS has announced that it is accepting applications for new members for the Internal Revenue Service Advisory Council (IRSAC). According to the IRS’ press release, the purpose of the council is to provide “a forum for IRS officials to discuss key areas of tax administration with a broad range of tax and other relevant professionals.” What that means is that the council suggests operational improvements, offers constructive observations about IRS’ current or proposed policies, programs, and procedures, and advises the IRS on particular issues regarading federal tax administration. Based on these discussions, the council then presents a report to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue each year at the Public Meeting.
IRSAC has about 20 openings for three-year terms beginning in January 2011. Applications will be accepted from May 3 to June 18, 2010.
Nominations of qualified individuals may come from individuals or organizations – but no applications can come from federally registered lobbyists thank goodness). The IRS aims to have a diverse council with members from the tax professional community, including tax attorneys, certified public accountants, enrolled agents, enrolled actuaries, appraisers, and businesses.
Here’s what the IRS is looking for: a strong tax or business background, excellent communications skills, practical tax administration experience and knowledge, and the ability to interact in a diversified environment. You’ll also need to describe and document a knowledge of Circular 230 regulations (downloads as pdf) and submit to a tax background check (like you didn’t think that was coming).
You can check out the application here (downloads as a pdf) or read more about the application process. If you have a particular question about the application process, you can also send an email to *public_liaison@irs.gov.
If you want to see who sits on council currently, you can check out their bios here.
