Table of Contents
You can get help with unresolved
tax issues, order free publications
and forms, ask tax questions, and
get more information from the IRS in
several ways. By selecting the
method that is best for you, you
will have quick and easy access to
tax help.
Contacting your
Taxpayer Advocate.
If you have attempted to deal
with an IRS problem
unsuccessfully, you should
contact your Taxpayer Advocate.
The Taxpayer Advocate
independently represents your
interests and concerns within
the IRS by protecting your
rights and resolving problems
that have not been fixed through
normal channels. While Taxpayer
Advocates cannot change the tax
law or make a technical tax
decision, they can clear up
problems that resulted from
previous contacts and ensure
that your case is given a
complete and impartial review.
To contact your Taxpayer
Advocate:
- Call the Taxpayer
Advocate toll free at
1-877-777-4778.
- Call, write, or fax
the Taxpayer Advocate
office in your area.
- Call 1-800-829-4059
if you are a
TTY/TDD user.
- Visit the website at
www.irs.gov/advocate.
For more information, see
Publication 1546, The Taxpayer
Advocate Service of the IRS–How
To Get Help With Unresolved Tax
Problems.
Free tax
services. To find out what
services are available, get
Publication 910, IRS Guide to
Free Tax Services. It contains a
list of free tax publications
and an index of tax topics. It
also describes other free tax
information services, including
tax education and assistance
programs and a list of TeleTax
topics.
Internet. You can access
the IRS website 24 hours a day, 7
days a week, at
www.irs.gov to:
-
E-file your
return. Find out about
commercial tax preparation
and
e-file
services available for free
to eligible taxpayers.
- Check the status of your
2004 refund. Click on
Where's My Refund.
Be sure to wait at least 6
weeks from the date you
filed your return (3 weeks
if you filed
electronically). Have your
2004 tax return available
because you will need to
know your filing status and
the exact whole dollar
amount of your refund.
- Download forms,
instructions, and
publications.
- Order IRS products
online.
- See answers to
frequently asked tax
questions.
- Search publications
online by topic or keyword.
- View Internal Revenue
Bulletins (IRBs) published
in the last few years.
- Figure your withholding
allowances using our Form
W-4 calculator.
- Send us comments or
request help by email.
- Sign up to receive local
and national tax news by
email.
- Get information on
starting and operating a
small business.
Fax.
You can get over 100 of
the most requested forms and
instructions 24 hours a day, 7 days
a week, by fax. Just call
703-368-9694 from the telephone
connected to your fax machine. When
you call, you will hear instructions
on how to use the service. The items
you request will be faxed to you.
For help with transmission
problems, call 703-487-4608.
Long-distance charges may apply.
Phone.
Many services are
available by phone.
-
Ordering forms,
instructions, and
publications.
Call 1-800-829-3676 to order
current-year forms,
instructions, and
publications and prior-year
forms and instructions. You
should receive your order
within 10 days.
-
Asking tax questions.
Call the IRS
with your tax questions at
1-800-829-1040.
-
Solving problems.
You can get
face-to-face help solving
tax problems every business
day in IRS Taxpayer
Assistance Centers. An
employee can explain IRS
letters, request adjustments
to your account, or help you
set up a payment plan. Call
your local Taxpayer
Assistance Center for an
appointment. To find the
number, go to
www.irs.gov/localcontacts
or look in the phone book
under
United States
Government, Internal Revenue
Service.
-
TTY/TDD equipment.
If you have access to
TTY/TDD equipment, call
1-800-829-4059 to ask tax or
account questions or to
order forms and
publications.
-
TeleTax topics.
Call 1-800-829-4477
and press 2 to listen to
pre-recorded messages
covering various tax topics.
-
Refund information.
If you would like to
check the status of your
2004 refund, call
1-800-829-4477 and press 1
for automated refund
information or call
1-800-829-1954. Be sure to
wait at least 6 weeks from
the date you filed your
return (3 weeks if you filed
electronically). Have your
2004 tax return available
because you will need to
know your filing status and
the exact whole dollar
amount of your refund.
Evaluating
the quality of our telephone
services. To ensure that IRS
representatives give accurate,
courteous, and professional answers,
we use several methods to evaluate
the quality of our telephone
services. One method is for a second
IRS representative to sometimes
listen in on or record telephone
calls. Another is to ask some
callers to complete a short survey
at the end of the call.
Walk-in. Many products
and services are available on a
walk-in basis.
-
Products.
You can walk in to many post
offices, libraries, and IRS
offices to pick up certain
forms, instructions, and
publications. Some IRS
offices, libraries, grocery
stores, copy centers, city
and county government
offices, credit unions, and
office supply stores have a
collection of products
available to print from a
CD-ROM or photocopy from
reproducible proofs. Also,
some IRS offices and
libraries have the Internal
Revenue Code, regulations,
Internal Revenue Bulletins,
and Cumulative Bulletins
available for research
purposes.
-
Services.
You can walk in to your
local Taxpayer Assistance
Center every business day to
ask tax questions or get
help with a tax problem. An
employee can explain IRS
letters, request adjustments
to your account, or help you
set up a payment plan. You
can set up an appointment by
calling your local Center
and, at the prompt, leaving
a message requesting
Everyday Tax Solutions help.
A representative will call
you back within 2 business
days to schedule an
in-person appointment at
your convenience. To find
the number, go to
www.irs.gov/localcontacts
or look in the phone book
under
United States
Government, Internal Revenue
Service.
Mail.
You can send your order
for forms, instructions, and
publications to the Distribution
Center nearest to you and receive a
response within 10 workdays after
your request is received. Use the
address that applies to your part of
the country.
-
Western part of U.S.:
Western Area Distribution
Center
Rancho Cordova, CA
95743-0001
-
Central part of U.S.:
Central Area Distribution
Center
P.O. Box 8903
Bloomington, IL 61702-8903
-
Eastern part of U.S. and
foreign addresses:
Eastern Area Distribution
Center
P.O. Box 85074
Richmond, VA 23261-5074
CD-ROM
for tax products. You can
order IRS Publication 1796, Federal
Tax Products on CD-ROM, and obtain:
- Current-year forms,
instructions, and
publications.
- Prior-year forms and
instructions.
- Frequently requested tax
forms that may be filled in
electronically, printed out
for submission, or saved for
recordkeeping.
- Internal Revenue
Bulletins.
Buy the CD-ROM from National
Technical Information Service (NTIS)
at
www.irs.gov/cdorders for $22 (no
handling fee) or call 1-877-233-6767
toll free to buy the CD-ROM for $22
(plus a $5 handling fee). The first
release is available in early
January and the final release is
available in late February.
CD-ROM
for small businesses. IRS
Publication 3207, Small Business
Resource Guide, CD-ROM 2004, is a
must for every small business owner
or any taxpayer about to start a
business. This handy, interactive CD
contains all the business tax forms,
instructions and publications needed
to successfully manage a business.
In addition, the CD provides an
abundance of other helpful
information, such as how to prepare
a business plan, finding financing
for your business, and much more.
The design of the CD makes finding
information easy and quick and
incorporates file formats and
browsers that can be run on
virtually any desktop or laptop
computer.
It is available in early April.
You can get a free copy by calling
1-800-829–3676 or by visiting the
web site at
www.irs.gov/smallbiz.
