Complaints needed here, IRS volunteer says

Rather than complaining about how the Internal Revenue Service can do it better, take your idea to someone who can do something about it.

In Carson City that man is Taxpayer Advocacy Panel member Gil Yanuck.

The 64-year-old retiree said few people know it exists, but the advocacy panel is there to listen when no one else wants to.

"We're the people who say, 'I will listen,'" he said Friday. "And then we take it to the committee and if it deems it important enough, we take it to the IRS."

Yanuck is one of 103 volunteer members of the national tax panel. He is expected to dedicate from 300 to 500 hours a year helping identify ways to improve customer service and satisfaction with the agency that is often maligned this time of the year. This dark reputation is what the IRS is trying to change using community volunteers.

To qualify for the three-year panel, an applicant must pass a criminal background check and be current with tax obligations. But having the desire to be a part of it is another thing.

Yanuck, assistant state director for the AARP's Tax-Aide program, enjoys helping others sort through their tax frustrations.

He retired as the owner and chief executive officer of the Southern California aerospace company Monogram Systems in 1999. He still works as a consultant on mergers and acquisitions.

But his role with the IRS isn't to deal with specific tax problems concerning an individual return. That's the role of the Taxpayer Advocate Service.

IRS spokesman Raphael Tulino said the advocate service is an independent arm that works within the IRS. It doesn't answer to the commissioner; it answers to Congress.

"It will help you solve a problem as a taxpayer if you can't solve it through normal channels," he said.

Yanuck said taxpayers who've run into a stone wall with the IRS and are facing a lien should contact the advocacy service.

"They have the ability to block the lien and give more time for you to discuss with the IRS," he said.

After the imminent threat has passed, perhaps that taxpayer will have a suggestion for the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel.

n Contact reporter Becky Bosshart at bbosshart@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.