WASHINGTON (AP) — The Internal Revenue Service long has resisted efforts by an internal watchdog to help groups seeking tax-exempt status, creating a culture that enabled agents to improperly target such organizations for additional scrutiny, the National Taxpayer Advocate reported Wednesday.
Nina E. Olson, who runs the independent office within the IRS, said in her annual report to Congress that culture continues today, despite the scandal that has rocked the tax agency for more than a month.
She said her office first approached the IRS about a backlog of applications for tax-exempt status in 2007. Olson has the authority to intervene in cases in which IRS actions are causing a "significant hardship" for taxpayers.
But the report said the agency's Exempt Organizations division resisted Olson's efforts, contending that she had no authority to intervene in such cases.
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