Changing
A Bureaucracy
One Paragraph At A Time
(Improving Written Communication)
Document 11345 (rev. 4-2009) Catalog Number 30954V Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service publish.no.irs.gov
C h a n g i n g a B u r e au c r a c y O n e P a r a g r a p h at a T i m e
Changing a Bureaucracy
One Paragraph
at a Time
Overview
This workbook is designed to accompany the interactive video, Changing A Bureaucracy One Paragraph
at a Time. The video has six sections where the instructor pauses to give you time to complete the
additional exercises in the workbook. The answers follow each group of exercises.
The workbook also includes an IRS letter that we edit in stages to show how applying some fundamentals
of effective written communication improve the quality of the letter. We revise this letter using one
fundamental at a time to show the effect of each change. Some of the things we change will be changed
again by the time we get to the end of the letter. For example, we may put the existing sentence in active
voice but it still contains wordy phrases or false subjects. We have done it this way to help you see the
effect of the technique we are working on in that portion of the video. In practice, you would probably start
your editing by looking at the organization of the document. For this exercise, we are working with the
writer's original organization.
Please
allow four hours to watch the video and complete the exercises.
http://irweb.irs.gov/AboutIRS/bu/cl/la/lawr/default.aspx
Please call the Congressional Correspondence Branch at (202) 622-3730 for more information.
C o n g r e s s i o n a l C o r r e s po n d e n c e
and
Quality Review Branch
Contacts
1111 Constitution Ave., NW • CL:LA, Room 3244 • Washington, DC 20224
(202) 622-3730 phone
(202) 622-4733 fax
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C h a n g i n g a B u r e au c r a c y O n e P a r a g r a p h at a T i m e
Changing
a
Bureaucracy One Paragraph
at a
Time
Introduction
A. Congressional Correspondence and Quality Review Branch Contacts
Focusing on the Readers
A. Identify readers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1. Who will read this?
2. What questions will they want answered?
3. What are their priorities? Concerns?
4. How much explanation do they want?
5. What is the minimum they need to know to do what they need to do?
6. How should we present the information?
B.
Write for the readers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1. Remember the 15-second rule.
2. Make the document visually interesting.
3. Write like you speak.
4. Answer their questions, but don't overwrite.
5. Write to communicate, not to impress.
Six Writing Tips
A. Use a positive tone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1. Use active voice. (Exercises)
2. Use "I" when you can. (Exercises)
3. Apologize when appropriate. (Exercises)
B.
Organize your document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
1. Pick the right organizing pattern.
2. Have only one main idea.
3. Keep the introduction short.
4. Put the most important idea at the beginning.
5. Be brief.
6. Use parallel construction.
C.
Format to make the document inviting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
1. Give readers white space.
2. Use headings.
3. Use bold, underlining, italics.
4. Use bullets. (Exercises)
D.
Choose words carefully. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
1. Avoid gobbledygook.
2. Use specific, concrete words.
3. Use strong verbs.
4. Avoid false subjects.
5. Remove wordy phrases.
6. Avoid redundancies. (Exercises)
E.
Review common grammar rules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
1. that/which
2. affect/effect
3. bimonthly
4. principal/principle
5. may/can (Exercises)
6. entitled/titled
7. demonstrative pronoun
F. Review common punctuation rules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
1. commas
2. conjunction
Evaluation Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
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Play Video
Introduction
We offer this class on writing to give writers, reviewers, and signers some tools to help lower the
frustration level of:
• Writers, because reviewers never seem satisfied with their drafts
• Reviewers, because writers don’t always know what reviewers want
• Signers, who aren’t satisfied but sign because the document is late
Our goal is to raise awareness about the things that make many IRS documents difficult to read:
passive voice, redundant words, wordy phrases. Writers can eliminate them from their writing,
thereby shortening the review process and making reviewers and signers happier.
Our agenda for the class:
• Discuss the importance of focusing our documents on the reader.
• Introduce you to the six groups of most commonly made mistakes in the letters we see and
show you how to correct or avoid them.
• Work through some exercises to help you become familiar with these concepts.
• Apply these concepts to an IRS document.
Our readers benefit from good writing and so do we.
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Identify The Reader
We want to make sure our letter is the one they
want to read.
If we focus on their needs and
present our information in an inviting format, they
will be more likely to read our documents.
We can’t force anyone to read our documents.
Readers have a choice.
They can read our
documents now, later, or never. We want ours in
the now category because the later category
usually ends up in the never category.
Write For Your Reader
When you picture the reader, imagine someone who
has too much to do (like most of us) and not enough
time. Imagine someone who is looking for concrete,
straightforward answers to questions and someone
perhaps who thinks of the IRS as a big, bureaucratic,
impersonal organization.
When you write, think of all the people who may read
your document. That list may include IRS employees,
taxpayers, members of the Congress, or newspaper
reporters.
Ask yourself, "What do the readers
need to know to do what they need to do?" Think
Readers spend an average of 15 seconds reading
about their priorities and concerns in general, not just
and trying to understand our documents. To help
those related to this document.
them do this, we use headings, bullets, and as few
words as possible. These things combine to make
our document visually interesting.
We can also
help readers get the information they need quickly
and easily by writing as we speak. Writing as we
speak is also called plain language. Not only
does plain language make the information easier
for the reader, it also helps us because it is easier
to write in plain language.
We want to answer all our readers’ questions,
giving them what they need to know but not
everything we know. Our goal as writers should be
Our letters are competing with many other
to have our readers read through the document one
documents for the short time readers have to give.
time and understand it perfectly the first time.
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Two
tips to help with this:
Remember we write to communicate information.
If our readers can’t understand our message, we
• If we need to cite code, put the plain language
have wasted a lot of time and effort.
information first, and then cite the code in brackets
Use A Positive Tone
at the end of the sentence or paragraph if the
same citation applies to all the information.
• When we cite court cases, put the citations in
italics.
Don’t underline them. The underline
comes from typewriter days when we didn’t have
an easy way to use italics. The underlining told
the printer to italicize the text. Technology has
made it easy for us to do it for ourselves.
The acceptable tone in business documents has
changed because of the information explosion. We all
have too much to read today. We want to read and
understand the content quickly. To understand long,
complex, technical, legalistic sentences takes time
and energy.
Plain language - language that sounds like ideal
Another important tool that goes hand-in-hand with
conversation - keeps the tone more informal,
these six tools is collaboration:
friendly, and personal.
• Ask another person to review your letter for tone,
Tone refers to how we make the reader feel by the
clarity, and organization. Best of all, ask people
words we use.
who know nothing about your program area to
impersonal, friendly or official, formal or informal. Tone
read your letter and make sure your explanation
is different from style. Style refers to the words you
is clear and not too technical.
use, for example, pronouns, contractions, jargon.
Our tone may be personal or
Your choice of these words creates tone.
• Accept their comments with gratitude for the time and
effort they put into the review - don’t be defensive.
• Help the people reviewing your letter by giving
them some guidelines on what you want them to
focus on in your letter.
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When we think of tone, we want words that sound
positive, friendly, personal, and helpful. We want to
In normal conversation, we would not use the language
communicate the open, straightforward, honest, and
on the left. It sounds bureaucratic and pretentious.
caring attitudes of the people who write the letters.
Readers like the straightforward approach on the
right.
One more note, readers don’t like legalistic, bureaucratic
jargon. Further, we don’t need to use legal sounding
terms to make our information accurate and legally
appropriate. As Dr. Kimble of the Thomas Cooley Law
School and Clarity* said in the Scribes Journal of
Legal Writing, "Plain language is not subverted by the
need to use technical terms or terms of art. Real terms
of art are a tiny part of any legal document…I invite
anyone to find a case saying that give won’t do in a will
- that it has to be give, devise, and bequeath."
*Clarity is an organization working to bring plain
language to the legal profession.
Often, people tell us that using the active voice or
using "we" instead of "I" is simply a matter of style.
However, the style of writing we choose is closely
linked to tone. Style refers to the choices we make in
organizing our document, using certain words, being
formal or informal, and deciding the length of sentences
and paragraphs. All of these choices affect the tone
of our document and, ultimately, the feelings or
impressions we leave with the reader.
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throughout the document, however, it becomes wordy,
making it difficult to read and understand.
Active Voice
The Congress passed the bill.
Passive Voice
The bill (was) passed by the Congress.
The tone of the first statement is hostile and angry.
The phrase "As you know" is unnecessary. If they
know, we don’t need to tell them. If we are not sure
Active voice:
they know and think it is important enough to mention,
An active voice sentence has a subject that
does an action to an object.
then just tell them in a straightforward, open way.
Sometimes saying less is much more effective.
The Congress (the subject) passed (did this
Active Voice vs. Passive Voice
action) the bill (the object).
Passive voice:
In the passive voice, the subject is the receiver
of the action.
1. U
se the active voice rather
than the passive.
The bill (the subject) was passed (was
acted upon) by the Congress.
When we write in the passive voice, we add some
form of the verb to be (am, is, are, was, or were).
Doing this makes our sentence wordy.
We may feel comfortable writing in the passive voice
because so many of our government documents are
written that way. We have simply become accustomed
to the sound, and passive voice becomes a habit.
However, when government documents sound
bureaucratic, passive voice is often the reason.
In one particular sentence, passive voice may not
sound so terrible.
When we use passive voice
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Cut Passive
Tense vs. Voice
Don’t confuse passive voice with past tense. Passive
voice can be in any tense: present, past, or future.
Cut Passive Voice
A c t i v e V o i c e :
The bill was passed.
We often use another form of voice called the cut
passive:
Present Tense:
The Congress passes the bill.
Past Tense:
The Congress passed the bill.
Future Tense:
The Congress will pass the bill.
P a s s i v e V o i c e :
The bill was passed.
Using the cut passive often makes it difficult for our
readers to figure out who did the action. When we do
this in our letters, we sound vague and make the
Present Tense:
The bill is passed by the Congress.
Past Tense:
The bill was passed by the Congress.
We
Future Tense:
reassure the public when we can show we know
The bill will be passed by the Congress.
reader think we don’t know what happened.
exactly what happened to a document entrusted to
our care.
For example, we should say "Ogden
Service Center received your return on April 1,
Regardless of the tense, we want to write in
the active voice.
1999" instead of "your return was received on April
1, 1999."
Two occasions when the passive is appropriate are:
• When the doer of the action is unknown
• When the doer of the action is unimportant
Because of the nature of our work, the organization
doing the action is seldom unimportant to the person
asking why they did not get their refund.
Just a caution - Using the active voice is not about
being accusatory; it is simply
about sounding responsible.
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Which version sounds more natural and sincere?
• Active voice uses fewer words. Fewer words are
easier to read and understand.
Passive:
Video Exercises:
Your offer in compromise for $1.00 cannot be
accepted by the IRS. (12 words)
Active:
Instructions: Choose the sentences that are
written in the active voice.
We cannot accept your offer in compromise for
$1.00. (9 words)
Exercise 1
• Active voice imitates the way we speak. It is
A. This letter will be available for public inspection
personal and friendly. We use the active voice
after identifying information has been deleted
automatically when we’re talking. We should
under the Freedom of Information Act.
train ourselves to use active voice in our writing.
B. Under the Freedom of Information Act, we will
Passive:
The letter was written by me this morning.
Active:
I wrote the letter this morning.
• Active voice shows responsibility. We don’t want to
sound accusatory.
However, when we avoid
showing responsibility, we often don’t give enough
make this letter available to the public after
deleting identifying information.
Answer: B
Exercise 2
A. A recommendation was made to initiate actions
to collect the potential lost revenue.
information to explain the problem and how to fix
it.
B. TIGTA recommended we collect the potential
lost revenue.
Passive:
Answer: B
It was determined that the amount of expenses
claimed for the year 1998 was inaccurate.
Active:
We found you added your expenses incorrectly.
Exercise 3
A. IRS records show Mr. Doe defaulted on his
installment agreement on December 1, 1997,
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because he filed his 1995 and 1996 returns
showing taxes due.
B. IRS records show Mr. Doe’s installment agreement
was defaulted on December 1, 1997, because his
1995 and 1996 returns were filed showing taxes
due.
Answer: A
Pause Video
Pause video here for additional exercises.
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Additional Exercises on the Active and Passive Voice
Instructions: Rewrite each sentence using the active voice.
1.Your examination has been transferred to the Yellow office and assigned to Mr. Joe Doe.
2. If a person does not file a return, a Notice of Deficiency is sent.
3. In recent years, additional emphasis has been placed on providing a higher, more standardized level of
Walk-In service to customers.
4. The problems that occurred early in the filing season were identified and corrected. (NOTE: You found that
Information Systems fixed the problem.)
5. Any expenses incurred in this matter may be claimed as deductions on your tax return.
6. The letter was sent to the primary taxpayer.
7. An identifying number must be included on all federal income tax returns.
8. Copies of both the forms and the publications are enclosed.
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9. An explanation was provided by the revenue agent to show why the audit was conducted on Mr. Doe’s tax
return.
10. A response dated August 5, 1999, was received stating she was an American citizen.
11. The 1999 federal tax return filed by the Does was processed at the Blue Service Center.
12. Changes were made that resulted in additional taxes and balances due from you. These assessments were made
by the Examination Division.
13. Our records indicate that your deposit was located and applied to your tax year 1999 liability on August 28,
2000.
14. Under the rules governing shareholders’ interests, Mr. Doe’s shares may not be sold or otherwise transferred.
15. Training was provided to data gatherers, and the case record/check sheet was used as a plan for the review.
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Suggested Answers
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Suggested Answers
1. I transferred your examination to the Yellow office where they assigned it to Mr. Doe.
2. If a person does not file a return, the IRS sends a Notice of Deficiency.
3. In recent years, we have worked to give quality Walk-In service to customers.
4. Information Systems corrected the problems that occurred early in the filing season.
5. You can deduct your expenses incurred in this matter on your tax return.
6. We (or I if you sent it) sent the letter to the primary taxpayer.
7. You must include an identifying number on all federal income tax returns.
8. I have enclosed copies of the forms and publications.
9. The revenue agent explained why he audited Mr. Doe.
10. She responded to us on August 5, 1999, saying she was an American citizen.
11. The Blue Service Center processed the Doe’s 1999 federal tax return.
12.The Examination Division made assessments that increased your taxes and balances due.
13. We located your deposit and applied it to your tax year 1999 liability on August 28, 2000.
14.The rules governing shareholders’ interest do not allow Mr. Doe to sell or transfer his
shares.
15.We trained the data gatherers and used the case record/check sheet as a plan for the
review.
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Letter 1: Original IRS Letter
Applying some fundamentals of effective written communication to our letters improves
their quality. We will revise this IRS letter using one fundamental at a time to show the
we get to the end of the letter. For example, we may put the existing sentence in active
voice but it still contains wordy phrases or false subjects. We have done it this way to
help you see the effect of the technique we are working on in that portion of the video.
In practice, you would probably start your editing by looking at the organization of the
document. For this exercise, we are working with the writer's original organization.
The first fundamental we will apply is changing passive voice sentences to the active
voice. Many government documents are good examples of why writers should avoid the
passive voice. Passive voice is vague, wordy, and, in the case of the cut passive, fails to
show responsibility.
C h a n g i n g a B u r e au c r a c y O n e P a r a g r a p h at a T i m e
Letter 1: Original IRS Letter
effect of each change. Some of the things we change will be changed again by the time
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The Honorable YY ZZ
Letter 1
Member, U.S. House of Representatives
Local Street Address
Suite
• The original letter
has large blocks of
text, lots of passive
voice, wordy
phrases, and no
formatting to make it
user friendly.
• In this first version of
the letter, we
highlighted in blue
those sentences that
have the passive
voice.
City, State Zip
Dear Congressman ZZ:
This is in response to your inquiry dated March 15, 2000, on behalf of your
constituent, Mr. J. Doe. Mr. Doe has raised a number of concerns; namely that he
had been subjected to needless audits, and in general, that his case has been
mishandled. On December 14, 1999, Mr. Doe filed an Application for Taxpayer
Assistance Order, Form 911, with the National Office, requesting relief from the
hardship he was experiencing. The National Office transferred his request to the
local office in State to better serve your constituent.
Upon receipt of his request for relief, the case was assigned to Mary YY, a
caseworker. This specific relief requested by Mr. Doe was: "...immediate
reinstatement of my deductions and exemptions for 1995 and withdrawal of the
Notice of Deficiency and its interest and penalty in its entirety for 1995. Additionally,
I order the IRS to cease its abuse and persecution of me." This required that the
Examination Division review the file. Mr. Doe requested that Examination begin the
process immediately. A review of the file was completed, as requested, and it was
determined that Mr. Doe was unable to substantiate the expenditures he had
claimed on his Individual Income Tax Return, Form 1040 for tax year 1995.
Specifically, it was determined that he was not entitled to a deduction for mortgage
interest, as the mortgage was not held in his name but in the name of a private
investor that he was paying. In addition, there were no allowances for contributions
to an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) because the financial institution that he
said held the IRA did not acknowledge the existence of the IRA.
With regard to the exemptions, Mr. Doe was not allowed to deduct the exemptions
for the children, A and B Doe, as they were claimed on another party’s return, and
he was unable to substantiate that more than half of their support was provided by
him. The other exemption, C. Doe, was disallowed because the child was 21, and
Mr. Doe could not verify that more than half the support was provided by him.
While the IRS realizes that C. Doe is handicapped, normal examination procedures
require that information be requested regarding all sources of support including
items such as Social Security benefits, payments from social service agencies, as
well as the taxable sources of income.
Jim XX, of my staff, contacted Mr. Doe and explained the above. Although Mr. Doe
was unhappy with the outcome, he understood why the deductions and
exemptions were disallowed. The issue of repetitive audits was also raised by Mr.
Doe. The files were reviewed and it was determined that we did not contact him for
tax years 1991, 1992, and 1993. Additional tax was proposed by the Underreporter
Program for tax year 1994. The tax was assessed after we did not receive a
response from him. The audit notification for tax year 1995 was sent from Franklin
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Service Center because this was Mr. Doe’s last known address and the one the
constituent used on the return. When the IRS was contacted and informed of his
address change, his request for the transfer to the local IRS office in City, State, was
complied with. The continuation of the audit was conducted in City, State, and Mr.
Doe was offered the opportunity to provide substantiation for the deductions. He
was unable to do so. When an audit is conducted, every effort is made to bring the
taxpayer into full compliance. This usually requires that the auditor include
subsequent years' returns. In this case, the1995 tax year was closed separately
due to statute concerns while the 1996 and 1997 tax years remained open to allow
Mr. Doe to have the opportunity to provide documentation to substantiate
deductions claimed on these returns. Mr. Doe informed Mr. XX that due to his
financial circumstances he could not pay the balance due. A review of his financial
statement indicated that this was accurate. The option of submitting an Offer-inCompromise to settle the debt was discussed. In the meantime, his account has
been placed in currently-not-collectible status. It was explained to Mr. Doe that
while the account is in currently-not-collectible status, interest continues to accrue;
and any subsequent refunds due him will be applied to the open balance.
With regard to Mr. Doe’s allegations of harassment, please be assured that the IRS
takes these matters very seriously. There is an independent organization to
investigate these complaints. Matters such as these are referred to the Treasury
Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA). Generally, the IRS is not notified
of the outcome of the investigation and subsequent corrective action because of
employee privacy issues.
Once again, we want to apologize for any inconvenience or frustration Mr. Doe may
have experienced in trying to resolve this matter. If you have any questions or
concerns, please contact us at (111) 222-2222.
Sincerely,
• In the passive voice,
the object of the
action is the subject
of the sentence and
the writer uses a
form of the verb to
be.
• In letter 2, we
changed the passive
voice sentences to
the active voice.
• The letter still has
lots of problems. We
will highlight and
correct other
problems in the
letters that follow.
Local Office
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In letter 2, we changed the passive voice examples highlighted in the first letter to the
active voice, making the subject the doer of the action and getting rid of the verb to be.
The letter still has many problems, but we have taken the first step.
In our next segment of the video, we talk about using I instead of we as often as possible.
To prepare for the next segment, in the last paragraph of letter 2, we highlighted the
words we and us. Writers should use the singular personal pronouns I and me as often
as possible in letters to give them a more personal tone even if they are preparing the
letter for someone else to sign.
Sometimes, we use the plural when talking about a
group effort, but we should make an effort to use I instead of we as often as possible.
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Letter 2: Passive Voice Changed to Active Voice Letter
IRS Letter 2: Passive Voice Changed to Active Voice
17
The Honorable YY ZZ
Letter 2
Member, U.S. House of Representatives
Local Street Address
Suite
• To help you review
this change in the
letter, we underlined
the parts of the
sentence where we
changed the passive
voice to the active
voice.
City, State Zip
Dear Congressman ZZ:
This is in response to your inquiry dated March 15, 2000, on behalf of your
constituent, Mr. J. Doe. Mr. Doe has raised a number of concerns; namely that the
IRS subjected him to needless audits, and in general, that the IRS mishandled his
case. On December 14, 1999, Mr. Doe filed an Application for Taxpayer Assistance
Order, Form 911, with the National Office, requesting relief from the hardship he was
experiencing. The National Office transferred his request to the local office in State
to better serve your constituent.
Upon receipt of his request for relief, the local office assigned the case to Mary YY,
a caseworker. Mr. Doe requested "...immediate reinstatement of my deductions
and exemptions for 1995 and withdrawal of the Notice of Deficiency and its interest
and penalty in its entirety for 1995. Additionally, I order the IRS to cease its abuse
and persecution of me." This required that the Examination Division review the file.
Mr. Doe requested that Examination begin the process immediately. We completed
a review of the file, as requested, and determined that Mr. Doe could not
substantiate the expenditures he had claimed on his Individual Income Tax Return,
Form 1040 for tax year 1995. Specifically, we determined that he was not entitled to
a deduction for mortgage interest, as he was paying a private investor who was
holding the mortgage he claimed. In addition, there were no allowances for
contributions to an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) because the financial
institution that held the IRA did not acknowledge the existence of the IRA.
With regard to the exemptions, the IRS did not allow Mr. Doe to deduct the
exemptions for the children, A and B Doe, as another party claimed them on a tax
return, and he was unable to substantiate that he provided more than half of their
support. The IRS disallowed the other exemption, C. Doe, because the child was
21, and Mr. Doe could not verify that he provided more than half the support. While
the IRS realizes that C. Doe is handicapped, normal examination procedures require
that we request information regarding all sources of support including items such as
Social Security benefits, payments from social service agencies, as well as the taxable
sources of income. Jim XX of my staff, contacted Mr. Doe and explained the above.
Although Mr. Doe was unhappy with the outcome, he understood why the IRS
18
C h a n g i n g a B u r e au c r a c y O n e P a r a g r a p h at a T i m e
disallowed the deductions and exemptions. Mr. Doe also raised the issue of
repetitive audits. We reviewed our files and found that we did not contact him for
tax years 1991, 1992, and 1993. The Underreporter Program proposed additional
tax for tax year 1994. We assessed the tax after we received no response from
him. The Franklin Service Center sent an audit notification for tax year 1995
because this was Mr. Doe’s last known address and the one the constituent used
on the return. When he contacted the IRS and informed us of his address change,
we complied with his request for the transfer to the local IRS office in City, State.
The IRS continued the audit in City, State, and offered him the opportunity to
provide substantiation for the deductions. He could not do so. When the IRS
conducts an audit, we make every effort to bring the taxpayer into full compliance.
This usually requires that the auditor include subsequent years’ returns. In this
case, the IRS closed the 1995 tax year separately due to statute concerns while the
1996 and 1997 tax years remained open to allow Mr. Doe to have the opportunity
to provide documentation to substantiate deductions claimed on these returns. Mr.
Doe informed Mr. XX that due to his financial circumstances he could not pay the
balance due. A review of his financial statement indicated that this was accurate.
The IRS discussed with Mr. Doe the option of submitting an Offer-in-Compromise
to settle the debt. In the meantime, the IRS has placed his account in currentlynot-collectible status. We explained to Mr. Doe that while the account is in
currently-not-collectible status, interest continues to accrue; and we will apply any
subsequent refunds due him to the open balance.
• The person signing
the letter is taking
With regard to Mr. Doe’s allegations of harassment, please be assured that the IRS
takes these matters very seriously. There is an independent organization to
responsibility for the
content of the letter
investigate these complaints. We refer matters such as these to the Treasury
Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA). Generally, TIGTA does not notify
us of the outcome of the investigation and subsequent corrective action because of
employee privacy issues.
so using I or me is
appropriate.
• We will change these
Once again, we want to apologize for any inconvenience or frustration Mr. Doe may
words in the next
have experienced in trying to resolve this matter. If you have any questions or
letter to give it a
concerns, please contact us at (111) 222-2222.
personal tone.
Sincerely,
Local Office
Play Video
C h a n g i n g a B u r e au c r a c y O n e P a r a g r a p h at a T i m e
19
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C h a n g i n g a B u r e au c r a c y O n e P a r a g r a p h at a T i m e
Using “I”
B.I regret the inconvenience this transaction
caused Mr. Doe.
Answer: B
This sentence removes the word ANY and MAY
HAVE. We know it did inconvenience the
2. U
se “I” instead of “we” as
often as possible.
reader. And we apologize.
Exercise 2
A.I am writing in response to your letter dated
May 30, 2000.
B. We are writing in response to your letter
Use "I" instead of "we" as often as possible so our
dated May 30, 2000.
Answer: A
readers:
• Feel IRS letters are personal.
The introductory first paragraph is a good
• Know we are being accurate.
place to use I.
• Understand a real person, not a machine, is
writing the letter.
Exercise 3
A. Should you need to contact my office, you
Use "I" instead of "we" when writing unless you are
may contact Joe Doe at (111) 222-3333.
referring to specific work performed by a group. Using
"we" when you could use "I" makes your letter sound
anonymous and unresponsive. Using "I" makes the
B.Please call me at (111) 222-3333 or Joe Doe
at (111) 222-3333.
Answer: B
reader feel you have read his or her letter, taken it
seriously, and made an effort to answer the
If your are writing to a congressman, give
questions.
your telephone number as well as the number
of whoever is working the case.
To keep a personal tone, use names if you know them.
Instead of using "your constituent" or "the taxpayer,"
Exercise 4
use the name. Instead of "If you or your constituent
A. We are sorry we lost your return.
have questions" use "If you or Mr. Doe have
questions."
B. I am sorry we lost your return.
Answer: B
Video Exercises:
Instructions: Choose the sentence that uses I/We
Even when we personally were not responsible,
we apologize.
appropriately.
Pause Video
Exercise 1
A.We regret any inconvenience this transaction
Pause video here for additional exercises.
may have caused Mr. Doe.
C h a n g i n g a B u r e au c r a c y O n e P a r a g r a p h at a T i m e
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C h a n g i n g a B u r e au c r a c y O n e P a r a g r a p h at a T i m e
Additional Exercises Using I and We
Instructions: Change we to I whenever you can to give our letters a more personal tone. Also use we instead of the
IRS when you can.
1.
We apologize for the IRS’s error.
2.
We are sorry your check did not arrive on time.
3.
The IRS addressed the response to Mr. Joe Doe instead of Ms. Jane Doe.
4.
On November 10, 1999, the IRS submitted an unauthorized disclosure report.
5.
If we can do anything else to help you in this matter, please call me or Joe Doe at (111) 222-3333.
6.
We are enclosing a price list, page count, and a separate publication.
Instructions: Use I and we as often as possible in the following paragraphs to make the tone conversational.
7. This letter responds to your request of June 6, 2000, endorsing City as a location for an Offer-in-Compromise
(OIC) processing site. The IRS has not made a decision regarding the location of the site but expects to do so
soon.
8. The IRS appreciates your taking the time to express your support for having the OIC site in City. The information
you have enclosed will be taken into consideration as a determination is made concerning the site.
C h a n g i n g a B u r e au c r a c y O n e P a r a g r a p h at a T i m e
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C h a n g i n g a B u r e au c r a c y O n e P a r a g r a p h at a T i m e
Suggested Answers
C h a n g i n g a B u r e au c r a c y O n e P a r a g r a p h at a T i m e
25
Suggested Answers
1. I apologize for our error.
2. I am sorry your check did not arrive on time.
3. We addressed our response to Mr. Joe Doe instead of Ms. Jane Doe. (You didn’t do it
yourself, so we is fine.)
4.On November 10, 1999, we submitted an unauthorized disclosure report. (Again, you didn’t
do it yourself.)
5. If I can do anything else to help you in this matter, please call me or Joe Doe at
(111) 222‑3333.
6. I am enclosing a price list, page count, and a separate publication.
7. Thank you for your letter of June 6, 2000, suggesting City as a location for an Offer-inCompromise (OIC) processing site. We have not made a decision yet but expect to do so
soon.
8. I appreciate your taking time to express your support for having the OIC site in City. We will
use your information as we decide where to put the new site.
26
C h a n g i n g a B u r e au c r a c y O n e P a r a g r a p h at a T i m e
In letter 2, we highlighted two words, we and us. Changing two words may seem
insignificant, but this small change contributes to giving the letter a more personal,
friendly tone. We made another change using I to give the opening of our letter more
personal tone.
We frequently see the following opening in IRS letters:
Not this: This is in response to your inquiry dated March 15, 2000, on behalf of your
constituent, Mr. J. Doe.
We don't want to use this opening because This is in response uses an undefined
demonstrative pronoun*, a pronoun that does not tell the reader what this refers to. A
way to improve this opening is to say:
This: This letter is in response to your inquiry dated March 15, 2000, on behalf of
your constituent, Mr. J. Doe.
Even better, we could personalize the letter with I and say:
Or this: I am responding to your letter dated March 15, 2000, on behalf of your
constituent, Mr. J. Doe.
As a general rule, when this refers to something that might not be obvious to the reader,
put the noun it refers to right after it.
* We included information on demonstrative pronouns in the grammar section of this
workbook.
C h a n g i n g a B u r e au c r a c y O n e P a r a g r a p h at a T i m e
Letter 3: Using I instead of We when Appropriate
IRS Letter 3: Using I instead of We when Appropriate
27
Letter 3
The Honorable YY ZZ
Member, U.S. House of Representatives
Local Street Address
Suite
City, State Zip
Dear Congressman ZZ:
• We changed this
opening using I to
I am responding to your letter dated March 15, 2000, on behalf of your constituent, Mr.
J. Doe. Mr. Doe has raised a number of concerns; namely that the IRS subjected him
make our letter more
to needless audits, and in general, that the IRS mishandled his case. On December 14,
personal.
1999, Mr. Doe filed an Application for Taxpayer Assistance Order, Form 911, with the
National Office, requesting relief from the hardship he was experiencing. The National
Office transferred his request to the local office in State to better serve your constituent.
Upon receipt of his request for relief, the local office assigned the case to Mary YY, a
caseworker. Mr. Doe requested "...immediate reinstatement of my deductions and
exemptions for 1995 and withdrawal of the Notice of Deficiency and its interest and
penalty in its entirety for 1995. Additionally, I order the IRS to cease its abuse and
persecution of me." This request required that the Examination Division review the file.
Mr. Doe requested that Examination begin the process immediately. We completed a
review of the file, as requested, and determined that Mr. Doe could not substantiate the
expenditures he had claimed on his Individual Income Tax Return, Form 1040 for tax
year 1995. Specifically, we determined that he was not entitled to a deduction for
mortgage interest, as he was paying a private investor who was holding the mortgage
he claimed. In addition, there was no allowance for contributions made to an Individual
Retirement Account (IRA) because the financial institution that held the IRA did not
acknowledge the existence of the IRA.
With regard to the exemptions, the IRS did not allow Mr. Doe to deduct the exemptions
for the children, A and B Doe, as another party claimed them on a tax return, and he
could not substantiate that he provided more than half of their support. The IRS
disallowed the other exemption, C. Doe, because the child was 21, and Mr. Doe could
not verify that he provided more than half the support. While the IRS realizes that C.
Doe is handicapped, normal examination procedures require that we request
information regarding all sources of support including items such as Social Security
benefits, payments from social service agencies, as well as the taxable sources of
income.
Jim XX, of my staff, contacted Mr. Doe and explained the above. Although Mr. Doe was
28
C h a n g i n g a B u r e au c r a c y O n e P a r a g r a p h at a T i m e
unhappy with the outcome, he understood why the IRS disallowed the deductions and
exemptions. Mr. Doe also raised the issue of repetitive audits. We reviewed our files
and found that we did not contact him for tax years 1991, 1992, and 1993. The
Underreporter Program proposed additional tax for tax year 1994. We assessed the
tax after we received no response from him. The Franklin Service Center sent an audit
notification for tax year 1995 because this was Mr. Doe’s last known address and the
one he used on the return. When he contacted the IRS and informed us of his address
change, we complied with his request for the transfer to the local IRS office in City,
State. The IRS continued the audit in City, and offered him the opportunity to provide
substantiation for the deductions. He could not do so. When the IRS conducts an
audit, we make every effort to bring the taxpayer into full compliance. This effort
usually requires that the auditor include subsequent years' returns. In this case, the
IRS closed the 1995 tax year separately due to statute concerns while the 1996 and
• The letter still has
1997 tax years remained open to allow Mr. Doe to have the opportunity to provide
lots of problems but
documentation to substantiate deductions claimed on these returns. Mr. Doe informed
using I instead of we
Mr. XX that due to his financial circumstances he could not pay the balance due. A
helps.
review of his financial statement indicated that this was accurate. The IRS discussed
with Mr. Doe the option of submitting an Offer-in-Compromise to settle the debt. In the
• In letter 3, we
meantime, the IRS has placed his account in currently-not-collectible status. We
highlighted the
explained to Mr. Doe that while the account is in currently-not-collectible status, interest
apology. The writer
continues to accrue, and we will apply any subsequent refunds due him to the open
of the letter decided
balance.
an apology is
With regard to Mr. Doe’s allegations of harassment, please be assured that the IRS
takes these matters very seriously. There is an independent organization to investigate
these complaints. We refer matters such as these to the Treasury Inspector General for
Tax Administration (TIGTA). Generally, TIGTA does not notify us of the outcome of the
investigation and subsequent corrective action because of employee privacy issues.
needed. We will
make changes to
improve the apology
in letter 4 after the
next segment of the
video.
Once again, I want to apologize for any inconvenience or frustration Mr. Doe may have
experienced in trying to resolve this matter. If you have any questions or concerns,
please contact me at (111) 222-2222.
Sincerely,
Local Office
Play Video
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C h a n g i n g a B u r e au c r a c y O n e P a r a g r a p h at a T i m e
A Few Tips On Apologies:
3. Apologize when appropriate.
Don’t build "wiggle room" in your apology.
Avoid
terms that imply we aren’t sure we did anything wrong
like, "any inconvenience we may have caused." If we
need to apologize for a mistake we made, we must do
• If we made an error, apologize.
it in a straightforward, open manner: "I am sorry for the
We don’t want to sound defensive. If an IRS employee
inconvenience we caused you." Also, don’t "like to
made a mistake, we should apologize even though we
apologize." Just do it: "I apologize…"
ourselves did not cause the problem.
When we
respond to a letter written to the IRS, our response
If we decide an apology is appropriate for our letter,
speaks for the entire organization.
make the apology in a open and straightforward
manner. For example, "I apologize for the poor service
• If we provided a service, don’t apologize.
Mr. Doe received."
If we have simply answered a question about tax law
or sent the reader a publication or form, we do not
need to apologize. Use instead a sentence like, "I
hope this information is useful in responding to Mr.
Doe."
• If we should apologize, make a sincere apology
appropriate for the situation.
Instead of "I am sorry for the inconvenience," be more
specific with "I am sorry we applied your payment to
the wrong account."
C h a n g i n g a B u r e au c r a c y O n e P a r a g r a p h at a T i m e
31
Video Exercises:
Instructions: Choose the apology you would like to
caused.
His patience and cooperation are
appreciated.
receive if you were in a similar
B. Please tell Mr. Doe I am sorry for the inconvenience
situation.
we caused him and appreciate his patience and
cooperation.
Exercise 1
A. Please apologize to your constituent for the poor
Answer: B
service that was provided to him and ensure him
that this incident is not an example of the service
we strive to insure taxpayers.
Pause Video
B. Please apologize to Mr. Doe for the poor service he
Pause video here for additional exercises.
received.
Answer: B
Exercise 2
A. We are so sorry Mr. Doe received such poor service
in his 5 attempts to contact the IRS. Our goal is to
provide optimal service world wide, and we hope
his contacts in the future meet his high
expectations.
B. I am sorry Mr. Doe received such poor service. Our
goal is to provide good customer service, and I
hope his contacts with us in the future are positive.
Answer: B
Exercise 3
A. We certainly want to apologize for any delay and
frustration experienced by you in trying to get your
refund.
B. I apologize for the delay and frustration you
experienced in trying to get your refund.
Answer: B
Exercise 4
A. Please extend our sincere apologies to your
constituent for any inconvenience we may have
32
C h a n g i n g a B u r e au c r a c y O n e P a r a g r a p h at a T i m e
Additional Exercise
on
Apologies
Instructions: In Letters 1 and 2, assume you need an apology. Write an apology, keeping the tone conversational;
and fix any other problems you find.
Letter 1 (Our response was late.)
This letter is in response to your inquiry dated June 1, 2000 on behalf of your constituent, Ms. Jane Doe. She is
concerned that she still has not received her $4,653.98 refund for 1999.
We have found that the Red Service Center processed your constituent’s return in March, and through an oversight
the check was not mailed to her. When she spoke with Mr. Smith, he could find no record of her refund. We
discovered the problem was in his database. We have resolved the problem and are sending the check to her today.
It will include the interest due as well.
If I can help in any way, please call me at (111) 222-3333.
Letter 2 (Our response was late.)
I am responding to your letter of November 3, 1999, on behalf of your constituent Mr. John Doe. Mr. Doe, an IRS
employee, contacted your office about personnel problems he was having.
We resolved Mr. Doe’s problems to his satisfaction in July. He was selected for a temporary promotion into a higher
graded position, and he was retroactively promoted for the period prior to his selection.
I hope this information is helpful. If you have any questions, please call me at (111) 222-3333.
C h a n g i n g a B u r e au c r a c y O n e P a r a g r a p h at a T i m e
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C h a n g i n g a B u r e au c r a c y O n e P a r a g r a p h at a T i m e
Suggested Answers
C h a n g i n g a B u r e au c r a c y O n e P a r a g r a p h at a T i m e
35
Suggested Answers
Letter 1
I apologize for the delay in responding to your inquiry dated June 1, 2000 on behalf of
your constituent, Ms. Jane Doe. She is concerned that she still has not received her
$4,653.98 refund for 1999.
We found the Red Service Center processed Ms. Doe’s return in March, and through an
oversight did not mail the check to her. When she spoke with Mr. Smith, he could find no
record of her refund. We discovered the problem was in his database. We have resolved
the problem and are sending the check to her today. It will include the interest due as
well.
I am very sorry Ms. Doe had to wait six months for her check. I am also sorry for the
inconvenience the incorrect information caused. If I can help in any way, please call me at
(111) 222-333.
Letter 2
I apologize for the delay in responding to your letter of November 3, 1999, on behalf of
your constituent Mr. John Doe. Mr. Doe, an IRS employee, contacted your office about
personnel problems he was having.
We resolved Mr. Doe’s problems to his satisfaction in July. His manager selected him for
a temporary promotion into a higher graded position and retroactively promoted him for
the period prior to his selection.
I hope this information is helpful. If you have any questions, please call me at
(111) 222-3333.
36
C h a n g i n g a B u r e au c r a c y O n e P a r a g r a p h at a T i m e
In this letter, we changed phrases like I would like to apologize, any inconvenience, and
might have caused. Also, if we should apologize, let’s just do it and not want to do it.
If we can identify a specific error we made or a delay in responding, we should make our
apology as specific as possible to the situation.
For example, if we believe the individual did not receive good customer service, we can
use a more specific apology such as:
I am sorry Mr. Doe received poor customer service from an IRS employee.
We will follow-up on his complaints so that other taxpayers do not
experience similar problems.
C h a n g i n g a B u r e au c r a c y O n e P a r a g r a p h at a T i m e
Letter 4: Apology Improved By Removing Wiggle Room
IRS Letter 4: Apology Improved by Removing Wiggle Room
37
The Honorable YY ZZ
Letter 4
Member, U.S. House of Representatives
Local Street Address
• In letter 4, we
highlighted three
topics we can use as
headings in letter 5.
In the next segment
of the video, we will
talk about the value
of headings in our
letters.
Suite
City, State Zip
Dear Congressman ZZ:
I am responding to your letter dated March 15, 2000, on behalf of your constituent, Mr.
J. Doe. Mr. Doe has raised a number of concerns; namely that the IRS subjected him
to needless audits, and in general, that the IRS mishandled his case. On December 14,
1999, Mr. Doe filed an Application for Taxpayer Assistance Order, Form 911, with the
National Office, requesting relief from the hardship he was experiencing. The National
Office transferred his request to the local office in State to better serve your constituent.
Upon receipt of his request for relief, the local office assigned the case to Mary YY, a
caseworker. Mr. Doe requested "...immediate reinstatement of my deductions and
exemptions for 1995 and withdrawal of the Notice of Deficiency and its interest and
penalty in its entirety for 1995. Additionally, I order the IRS to cease its abuse and
persecution of me." This request required that the Examination Division review the file.
Mr. Doe requested that Examination begin the process immediately. We completed a
review of the file, as requested, and determined that Mr. Doe could not substantiate the
expenditures he had claimed on his Individual Income Tax Return, Form 1040 for tax
year 1995. Specifically, we determined that he was not entitled to a deduction for
mortgage interest, as he was paying a private investor who was holding the mortgage
he claimed. In addition, there was no allowance for contributions made to an Individual
Retirement Account (IRA) because the financial institution that held the IRA did not
acknowledge the existence of the IRA.
With regard to the exemptions, the IRS did not allow Mr. Doe to deduct the exemptions
for the children, A and B Doe, as another party claimed them on a tax return, and he
could not substantiate that he provided more than half of their support. The IRS
disallowed the other exemption, C. Doe, because the child was 21, and Mr. Doe could
not verify that he provided more than half the support. While the IRS realizes that C.
Doe is handicapped, normal examination procedures require that we request
information regarding all sources of support including items such as Social Security
benefits, payments from social service agencies, as well as the taxable sources of
income.
Jim XX, of my staff, contacted Mr. Doe and explained the above. Although Mr. Doe was
38
C h a n g i n g a B u r e au c r a c y O n e P a r a g r a p h at a T i m e
unhappy with the outcome, he understood why the IRS disallowed the deductions and
exemptions. Mr. Doe also raised the issue of repetitive audits. We reviewed our files
and found that we did not contact him for tax years 1991, 1992, and 1993. The
Underreporter Program proposed additional tax for tax year 1994. We assessed the
tax after we received no response from him. The Franklin Service Center sent an audit
notification for tax year 1995 because this was Mr. Doe’s last known address and the
one the constituent used on the return. When he contacted the IRS and informed us of
his address change, we complied with his request for the transfer to the local IRS office
in City, State. The IRS continued the audit in City, and offered him the opportunity to
provide substantiation for the deductions. He could not do so. When the IRS
conducts an audit, we make every effort to bring the taxpayer into full compliance.
This effort usually requires that the auditor include subsequent years' returns. In this
case, the IRS closed the 1995 tax year separately due to statute concerns while the
1996 and 1997 tax years remained open to allow Mr. Doe to have the opportunity to
provide documentation to substantiate deductions claimed on these returns. Mr. Doe
informed Mr. XX that due to his financial circumstances he could not pay the balance
due. A review of his financial statement indicated that this was accurate. The IRS
discussed with Mr. Doe the option of submitting an Offer-in-Compromise to settle the
debt. In the meantime, the IRS has placed his account in currently-not-collectible
status. We explained to Mr. Doe that while the account is in currently-not-collectible
status, interest continues to accrue; and we will apply any subsequent refunds due him
to the open balance.
With regard to Mr. Doe’s allegations of harassment, please be assured that the IRS
takes these matters very seriously. There is an independent organization to investigate
these complaints. We refer matters such as these to the Treasury Inspector General for
Tax Administration (TIGTA). Generally, TIGTA does not notify us of the outcome of the
investigation and subsequent corrective action because of employee privacy issues.
Once again, I apologize for the inconvenience and frustration Mr. Doe experienced in
trying to resolve this matter. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me
at (111) 222-2222.
• We took out words
like any and might.
Once we decide an
apology is
appropriate we
should avoid words
that imply, “I’m not
sure I really want to
apologize”
Sincerely,
Local Office
Play Video
C h a n g i n g a B u r e au c r a c y O n e P a r a g r a p h at a T i m e
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40
C h a n g i n g a B u r e au c r a c y O n e P a r a g r a p h at a T i m e
Organize Your Document
To help us remember, we use Joe Florian’s analogy
Readers want to read the main idea followed by the
from his book on writing:
supporting details, stacked in neat layers. Each layer
supports the layer above it. The way you organize
your document determines how easily your reader will
be able to follow the logic of your message.
Bottom Line Up Front
We don’t want to lose our readers by making them
wait too long for the main idea.
Writers write differently than readers read. Writers will
meander through a maze of information until they
reach the conclusion. The reader doesn’t want to go
down that path with the writer. Because readers don’t
have a lot of time, they want the bottom line up front.
That means after we have done our research and
analysis, we should turn our document upside down
and put the answer at the top.
C h a n g i n g a B u r e au c r a c y O n e P a r a g r a p h at a T i m e
41
Use Format To Make
Documents Inviting
Use as few words as possible, and put the code
citations in brackets at the end of the sentence or
paragraph.
Parallel construction means we use the same
grammatical construction for all the items in a set. For
We use format to get the reader’s attention.
example, "I came, I saw, I conquered" uses the
grammatical construction of noun/verb. In the example
above, the bulleted statements are in a question
format and are complete sentences.
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Using bolded headings, bullets, and short paragraphs
adds white space. White space invites the reader to
LIKE WE ARE YELLING.
Bulleted lists are easier to read than lists embedded in
a paragraph. Keep punctuation for bullets simple:
read now, not later.
• Put a period at the end of each complete
sentence.
Headings summarize a section of our document.
They let the reader skim the document quickly and
• Put no punctuation at the end of incomplete
sentences.
find the parts they want to read. They also help the
A set of bullets will be either all complete sentences or
all incomplete sentences.
Keep bullets parallel by using the same grammatical
construction.
reader follow the logic of our information.
Bold, underlining, and italics draw our reader’s attention
to the parts of the document we don’t want them to
miss.
One emphatic technique we never want to use is all
Pause Video
Pause video here for additional exercises.
caps. USING ALL CAPS MAKES THE READER FEEL
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C h a n g i n g a B u r e au c r a c y O n e P a r a g r a p h at a T i m e
Additional Exercises on Bullets and Headings
Instructions: Put a general sentence as the first line of each paragraph, and then:
•Add the supporting sentences as bulleted lists.
•Begin each bullet with a capital letter.
•Put a period at the end if the bulleted words form a sentence. (To decide if the words are a sentence, when it’s
not obvious, look only at the bulleted words, not the tag line. If the bulleted statement gives a command or
makes a request, it is called an imperative sentence and you would put a period at the end of it.)
•Put nothing at the end if the words don’t form a sentence.
•Use a verb, when possible, to begin each bullet.
Example A: (incomplete sentences)
The law allows you to file by:
•Using a tax professional
•Filing through a personal computer
•Calling taxes in over the phone
•Submitting a paper return
Example B: (complete sentences)
The law allows you to:
•Use a tax professional.
•File through a personal computer.
•Call taxes in over the phone.
•Submit a paper return.
1.Compliance for transfer pricing is based on several principles. The appropriateness of taxpayers’ transfer pricing
practices must be verified along with the reasonableness of the transfer pricing practice. Contemporaneous
documentation must show the reasonableness of their transfer prices and be available to the IRS.
(topic sentence) •
•
•
•
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2.The 1993 amendments to the Act made the net adjustment penalty apply where a taxpayer did not try to
comply with the arms length standard. Also the penalty applied if contemporaneous documentation was
not written or if a taxpayer failed to provide that documentation to the IRS within 30 days of the request.
(topic sentence)
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
•
•
•
3.Distributions from a qualified plan must begin by the 60th day after the close of the plan year in which the latest
of certain events occurs: When the participant attains the earlier of age 65 or the normal retirement age under
the plan, or the 10th anniversary of the year the participant began to participate in the plan, or the date the
participant terminates service with the employer [section 401(a)(14) of the Code].
(topic sentence)
•
•
•
4. The ABC specialists offer both case-related experience and tax law expertise. Memoranda are issued to provide
guidance of specific issues. The ABC specialists teach training classes and participate in writing and reviewing
training materials in their areas of expertise in cooperation with the IRS Corporate Education International
Institute. Finally, the ABC specialists act as liaisons among local, area, and national office counsels.
(topic sentence)
•
•
•
•
•
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Suggested Answers
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Suggested Answers
1. A. Compliance for transfer pricing is based on four principles. Taxpayers can do this by:
•Verifying the appropriateness of their transfer pricing practices
• Using reasonable transfer pricing practices
•Keeping contemporaneous documentation showing their transfer pricing is reasonable
•Making their contemporaneous documentation available to the IRS
or
B. Compliance for transfer pricing is based on four principles. Taxpayers must:
•Verify the appropriateness of their transfer pricing practices.
•Use reasonable transfer pricing practices.
•Keep contemporaneous documentation showing their transfer pricing is reasonable.
•Make their contemporaneous documentation available to the IRS.
2.The 1993 amendments to the Act made the net adjustment penalty apply if taxpayers did
not:
•Try to comply with the arms length standard.
•Write contemporaneous documentation.
• Give the documentation to the IRS within 30 days of the request.
3.Distributions from a qualified plan must begin by the 60th day after the close of the plan year
in which the latest of three events occurs:
•The participant attains the earlier of age 65 or the normal retirement age under the
plan.
•The participant reaches the 10th anniversary of the year he/she began to participate in
the plan.
•The participant terminates service with the employer [section 401(a)(14) of the Code].
4. The ABC specialists do the following things:
•Offer both case-related experience and tax law expertise.
•Issue guidance on specific issues.
•Teach training classes.
•Participate in writing and reviewing training materials in their areas of expertise with the
IRS Corporate Education International Institute.
•Act as liaisons among local, area, and national office counsels.
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Additional Exercises on Headings
Instructions: This exercise has two letters, each with several paragraphs. Read the paragraph under the line, and
then write a heading that summarizes it.
Letter 1
I am responding to your letter of August 18, 2000 to Charles Rossotti, Commissioner of Internal Revenue about
section 457 of the Internal Revenue Code (the Code).
(heading 1) _________________________________________________________________________
Section 457 is a deferred compensation plan, an arrangement between an employer and employees in which the
payment of compensation is postponed. The section regulates the income tax treatment of compensation for
services deferred by an individual under an eligible deferred compensation plan of an eligible employer, such as a
state or local government entity or a tax-exempt organization. The section also says the IRS taxes the compensation
deferred under an eligible plan and the income assigned to this deferred compensation only for the year the deferred
amounts are "paid or made available" to the participant or beneficiary, not for the year deferred.
(heading 2) _________________________________________________________________________
The Constructive Receipt Doctrine shown in section 451 of the Code and shown, for public and tax-exempt
employers, in section 457 governs the tax consequences of the deferred compensation plans. Under the
Constructive Receipt Doctrine of income, taxpayers pay tax on an item of income if they have an unrestricted right
to decide when that item of income is paid. This principle was expressed in a 1930 Supreme Court case, Corliss
v. Bowers, 281 U.S. 376 (1930) in a statement by Justice Holmes that "[i]ncome that is subject to a man’s
unfettered command and that he is free to enjoy at his own option may be taxed to him as his income, whether he
sees fit to enjoy it or not." Taxpayers constructively receive income in the year it is available even though they do
not actually receive it. But they could receive it any time they ask for it.
Letter 2
I am responding to your letter dated August 22, 2000, on behalf of your constituent, Mr. John Doe. Mr. Doe questions
the legality of the tax Form W-9, Request for Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) and certification. He also asks us
to investigate ABC, a collection agency in State.
(heading 1) _________________________________________________________________________
Individuals or businesses (payors) file a Tax Form W-9 with the IRS to give us the following information:
• Verification the TIN given to the payor is correct
• Certification the payee is not subject to backup withholding
• Certification the payee is an exempt recipient
The payor can change the Form W-9 as long as the substitution is similar and still gives the above
information. Also, the payor does not have to send the form to us. For your information and convenience, I
have enclosed our form for you.
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(heading 2) _________________________________________________________________________
Usually we do not investigate a business unless we have firm evidence of noncompliance with the federal tax laws.
We welcome information that may show noncompliance; however, Mr. Doe would have to give us additional
information showing noncompliance. Once we received information from him, we would review it. But because of
IRS disclosure restrictions, we then could not tell him whether or not we would investigate the company (section
6103 of the Internal Revenue Code).
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Suggested Answers
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Suggested Answers
Letter 1
Heading 1: Explanation of Section 457 of the Code
Heading 2: Explanation of the Constructive Receipt Doctrine
Letter 2
Heading 1: The Legality of Tax Form W-9
Heading 2: The IRS Policy on Investigating a Business
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IRS Letter 5: Headings Added to Help the Reader Follow the Information
paragraphs throughout the letter, which tell the reader the three major topics we planned
to answer in this letter. Using headings helps our readers skim through the document to
find the information they need. The headings also bring to our attention the fact that
some of the paragraphs have more than one idea. To avoid ambiguity, we want to make
sure we have only one idea in each:
• Letter
• Paragraph
• Sentence
• Word
The heading should be an umbrella statement that covers all the information that follows.
Or, in other words, everything in the paragraph following the heading should support that
one idea. Also, all of our headings should use parallel construction. In other words, use
the same grammatical construction. For example, each heading below begins with a
noun.
• Denial of Deductions and Exemptions on 1995 Tax Return
• Audits Yearly Since 1990
• Allegations of Harassment
Because headings stand out on their own, we did not underline the change in letter 5.
We added the headings, but now we can see the information in the paragraphs that
follow the headings do not always support our main idea. Headings help us see places
where our message does not flow logically.
C h a n g i n g a B u r e au c r a c y O n e P a r a g r a p h at a T i m e
Letter 5: Headings Added to Help the Reader Follow the
Information
In letter 5, we added headings taken from the introductory paragraph and other
53
The Honorable YY ZZ
Letter 5
Member, U.S. House of Representatives
Local Street Address
Suite
• We will work on
organizing the
information in letter 6
and later versions.
• In this letter we
highlighted some
ideas we can format
City, State Zip
Dear Congressman ZZ:
I am responding to your letter dated March 15, 2000, on behalf of your constituent, Mr.
J. Doe. Mr. Doe has raised a number of concerns; namely that the IRS subjected him
to needless audits, and in general, that the IRS mishandled his case. On December 14,
1999, Mr. Doe filed an Application for Taxpayer Assistance Order, Form 911, with the
National Office, requesting relief from the hardship he was experiencing. The National
Office transferred his request to the local office in State to better serve your constituent.
as bullets in letter 6.
Upon receipt of his request for relief, the local office assigned the case to Mary YY, a
caseworker. Mr. Doe requested "...immediate reinstatement of my deductions and
exemptions for 1995 and withdrawal of the Notice of Deficiency and its interest and
penalty in its entirety for 1995. Additionally, I order the IRS to cease its abuse and
persecution of me." This request required that the Examination Division review the file.
Mr. Doe requested that Examination begin the process immediately. We completed a
review of the file, as requested and determined that Mr. Doe could not substantiate the
expenditures he had claimed on his Individual Income Tax Return, Form 1040 for tax
year 1995. Specifically, we determined that he was not entitled to a deduction for
mortgage interest, as he was paying a private investor who was holding the mortgage
he claimed. In addition, there was no allowance for contributions made to an Individual
Retirement Account (IRA) because the financial institution that held the IRA did not
acknowledge the existence of the IRA.
• Headings help us
identify information
that does not belong
in this paragraph.
Denial of Deductions and Exemptions on 1995 Tax Return
With regard to the exemptions, the IRS did not allow Mr. Doe to deduct the exemptions
for the children, A and B Doe, as another party claimed them on a tax return, and he
could not substantiate that he provided more than half of their support. The IRS
disallowed the other exemption, C. Doe, because the child was 21, and Mr. Doe could
not verify that he provided more than half the support. While the IRS realizes that C.
Doe is handicapped, normal examination procedures require that we request
information regarding all sources of support including items such as Social Security
benefits, payments from social service agencies, as well as the taxable sources of
income.
Audits Yearly Since 1990
Jim XX, of my staff, contacted Mr. Doe and explained the above. Although Mr. Doe was
unhappy with the outcome, he understood why the IRS disallowed the deductions and
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exemptions. Mr. Doe also raised the issue of repetitive audits. We reviewed our files
and found that we did not contact him for tax years 1991, 1992, and 1993. The
Underreporter Program proposed additional tax for tax year 1994. We assessed the
tax after we received no response from him. The Franklin Service Center sent an audit
notification for tax year 1995 because this was Mr. Doe’s last known address and the
one the constituent used on the return. When he contacted the IRS and informed us of
his address change, we complied with his request for the transfer to the local IRS office
in City, State. The IRS continued the audit in City and offered him the opportunity to
provide substantiation for the deductions. He could not do so. When the IRS
conducts an audit, we make every effort to bring the taxpayer into full compliance.
This effort usually requires that the auditor include subsequent years' returns. In this
• Headings help us
see places where are
information does not
flow logically.
case, the IRS closed the 1995 tax year separately due to statute concerns while the
1996 and 1997 tax years remained open to allow Mr. Doe to have the opportunity to
provide documentation to substantiate deductions claimed on these returns. Mr. Doe
informed Mr. XX that due to his financial circumstances he could not pay the balance
due. A review of his financial statement indicated that this was accurate. The IRS
discussed with Mr. Doe the option of submitting an Offer-in-Compromise to settle the
debt. In the meantime, the IRS has placed his account in currently-not-collectible
status. We explained to Mr. Doe that while the account is in currently-not-collectible
status, interest continues to accrue; and we will apply any subsequent refunds due him
to the open balance.
Allegations of Harassment
With regard to Mr. Doe’s allegations of harassment, please be assured that the IRS
takes these matters very seriously. There is an independent organization to investigate
these complaints. We refer matters such as these to the Treasury Inspector General for
Tax Administration (TIGTA). Generally, TIGTA does not notify us of the outcome of the
investigation and subsequent corrective action because of employee privacy issues.
Once again, I apologize for the inconvenience and frustration Mr. Doe experienced in
trying to resolve this matter. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me
at (111) 222-2222.
Sincerely,
Local Office
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IRS Letter 6: Use Bullets to Highlight Information
technique highlights the information and makes it easier and faster to read.
When using bullets and headings, we want to make sure we use parallel construction for
all the items in the set. Using parallel construction means we use the same grammatical
construction in each bullet.
We use a tag line to introduce our bullets:
We began a number of improvements last year that have continued this
year by:
Then, each bullet begins with an ing form of the verb:
• Expanding our telephone service to 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
• Hiring and training additional staff
• Introducing new technology that allows us to direct calls to the next
available assistor in any of our call sites
Again, because our bullets draw attention to the information, we did not underline that
change in the letter.
C h a n g i n g a B u r e au c r a c y O n e P a r a g r a p h at a T i m e
Letter 6: Use Bullets to Highlight Information
In letter 6, we formatted some of the information using bullets and hanging indents. This
57
Letter 6
The Honorable YY ZZ
Member, U.S. House of Representatives
Local Street Address
Suite
City, State Zip
Dear Congressman ZZ:
• In the first
paragraph, we
expanded on our
headings from letter
5 and put them into
3 bullets to help
organize the
I am responding to your letter dated March 15, 2000, on behalf of your constituent, Mr.
J. Doe. Mr. Doe has raised a number of concerns; namely that:
• The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) denied deductions and exemptions on his 1995
return.
• The IRS has subjected him to annual audits since 1990.
• An IRS auditor harassed him.
On December 14, 1999, Mr. Doe filed an Application for Taxpayer Assistance Order,
Form 911, with the National Office, requesting relief from the hardship he was
experiencing. The National Office transferred his request to the local office in State to
better serve your constituent.
information. THis
preview helps the
reader by telling
him or her what
they can expect in
this letter.
• In letter 6, we
highlighted some
wordy phrases
where we can
substitute strong
verbs in letter 7.
58
Upon receipt of his request for relief, the local office assigned the case to Mary YY, a
caseworker. Mr. Doe requested "...immediate reinstatement of my exemptions for 1995
and withdrawal of the Notice of Deficiency and its interest and penalty in its entirety for
1995. Additionally. I order the IRS to cease its abuse and persecution of me." This
request required that the Examination Division review the file. Mr. Doe requested that
Examination begin the process immediately.
Denial of Deductions and Exemptions on 1995 Tax Return
Ms. YY asked the Examination Division to review Mr. Doe’s case. It found that Mr. Doe
could not substantiate the deductions and exemptions he claimed on his Individual
Income Tax Return for tax year 1995:
• He could not take a deduction for mortgage interest, as he was paying a private
investor who was holding the mortgage he claimed.
• He could not claim contributions made to an Individual Retirement Account (IRA)
because there was no record of his IRA with the financial institution.
• He could not deduct the exemptions for the children A and B, as another party had
claimed them on a return, and he could not verify that he provided more than half of
their support.
• He could not claim C. Doe because the child was 21, and Mr. Doe could not verify
that he provided more than half of his support.
While the IRS realizes that C. Doe is handicapped, normal examination procedures
require that we request information regarding all sources of support including items
such as Social Security benefits, payments from social service agencies, as well as the
taxable sources of income.
C h a n g i n g a B u r e au c r a c y O n e P a r a g r a p h at a T i m e
Jim XX, of my staff, contacted Mr. Doe and explained the above. Although Mr. Doe
was unhappy with the outcome, he understood why the IRS disallowed the deductions
and exemptions.
Audits Yearly Since 1990
Mr. Doe also raised the issue of repetitive audit. We reviewed our files and found that
we did not contact him for tax years 1991, 1992, and 1993. The Underreporter
Program proposed additional tax for tax year 1994. We assessed the tax after we
received no response from him. The Franklin Service Center sent an audit notification
for tax year 1995 because this was Mr. Doe’s last known address and the one the
constituent used on the return. When he contacted the IRS and informed us of his
address change, we complied with his request for the transfer to the local IRS office in
City, State. The IRS continued the audit in City and offered him the opportunity to
provide substantiation for the deductions. He could not do so. When the IRS
conducts an audit, we make every effort to bring the taxpayer into full compliance.
This usually requires that the auditor include subsequent years' returns. In this case,
the IRS closed the 1995 tax year separately due to statute concerns while the 1996
and 1997 tax years remained open to allow Mr. Doe to have the opportunity to provide
documentation to substantiate deductions claimed on these returns. Mr. Doe informed
Mr. XX that due to his financial circumstances he could not pay the balance due. A
review of his financial statement indicated that this was accurate. The IRS discussed
with Mr. Doe the option of submitting an Offer-in-Compromise to settle the debt. In the
meantime, the IRS has placed his account in currently-not-collectible status. We
explained to Mr. Doe that while the account is in currently-not-collectible status, interest
continues to accrue; and we will apply any subsequent refunds due him to the open
balance.
Allegations of Harassment
With regard to Mr. Doe’s allegations of harassment, please be assured that the IRS
takes these matters very seriously. There is an independent organization to investigate
these complaints. We refer matters such as these to the Treasury Inspector General for
Tax Administration (TIGTA). Generally, TIGTA does not notify us of the outcome of the
investigation and subsequent corrective action because of employee privacy issues.
Once again, I apologize for the inconvenience and frustration Mr. Doe experienced in
trying to resolve this matter. If you have any questions or concerns, please
contact me at (111) 222-2222.
Sincerely,
Local Office
Play Video
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Choose Words Carefully
Gobbledygook is unclear, wordy jargon that makes
readers uncomfortable. This type of writing takes time
and energy.
Our
Which version is easier and more likely to get the
Choice Of Words
sets the tone.
results we want?
"By copy of agreement, we are requesting that our XX
Service Center effect corrections on records.
To
ensure proper distribution of future notification
regarding your tax information, please return the
enclosed request card to the address stated therein."
Or
Words are symbols that represent things, people,
actions, and ideas. They also represent us when we
"Please update your answers to the questions on the
choose them for our documents. Sometimes, using the
enclosed card so we will have the correct address if
wrong word can confuse our reader or misrepresent us.
we need to contact you about your return."
We want our writing to be open, straightforward, and
honest so that our readers will have confidence in the
Here is another example of gobbledygook taken
service we give.
from an IRS letter:
We can improve our choice of words when we do the
"The current Protection Program processes provide
following:
statistics valuable to improving the program and
•Avoid gobbledygook.
measuring levels of success within the currently
•Use specific, concrete words.
known universe of fraud as well as direction toward
•Use strong verbs.
emerging areas. Based on the additional data derived
•Avoid false subjects.
by your methodology and capabilities, we cannot
•Eliminate wordy phrases.
make a quantitative determination of the value-added
•Avoid redundancies.
prospect toward improvement in the Protection
Program. Our current processes deal with resubmission
Avoid Gobbledygook
of rejected forms, whether through electronic filing or
paper, to the same fraud detection criteria as the
original submission.
These criteria are tested and
supported quantitatively, and they are regularly
reviewed and adjusted, as necessary."
What does this mean? It's so full of buzzwords and
jargon that it has lost its meaning. We need to make
our writing work for us; this type of writing does not
work for anyone.
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We want our writing to be as clear and unambiguous
We should use words that help us get our message
across in the most effective way possible.
as possible.
Below in the left column
are some
commonly used words we should replace with the
concrete ones in the right column.
Don’t Use:
Use:
Correspondence
Letter
Necessitate
Need
Proceed
Go
Render
Give
Ramification
Results
Demonstrate
Show
Use Specific, Concrete Words
Apprise
Tell
Additional
More
Provide
Give, Says (The law says)
Determine
Decide
Activate
Start
Aggregate
Whole
Formulate
Make
Effectuate
Cause
Requisite
Needed
Financial resource
Money
Utilization
Use
Commence
Begin
Component
Part
Fabricate
Lie, Build
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Use Strong Verbs
Maybe the first sentence means, "We wanted to
emphasize customer service first and compliance
Verbs are the power words in English. The more we
second."
use verbs that show action, the clearer we make our
writing. Below are some examples of strong verbs.
Maybe the second means, "Employees weren’t
working because something interrupted their tasks."
Not This:
This:
Has applicability to Applies to
But we are only guessing. We don’t want our readers
Make improvements to Improve
Give emphasis to Emphasize
Make an assessment
Assess
Make a suggestion
Suggest
Avoid False Subjects
to have to guess at our meaning.
We would never remember the first version of this
proverb. We remember the second version because it
is
simple,
construction.
straightforward,
and
uses
parallel
False subjects usually begin with one of the examples
above. They often occur at the beginning of a
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63
sentence and displace the true subject.
example:
For
There is a part of your return that is illegible.
Subsequent to
After
Get Rid Of Wordy Phases
It’s better to say:
Owing to the fact that
Because
Part of your return is illegible.
False subjects can also appear within sentences:
We decided that there were some
deductions that we could not allow.
The false subject there weakens the sentence and
adds unnecessary words. The sentence is stronger
this way:
We could not allow some deductions.
Avoid Redundancies
Redundant words add no value to our documents. Try
to eliminate them from your documents. Here are
some more examples:
This:
Not This:
Problem
Unsolved problem
Ten
Total of ten
Circumstances
Surrounding circumstances
Result
Resultant effect
Separate, Distinct
Separate and distinct
Essentials
Important essentials
Combine
Unnecessary words get in the way of good
Combine together
communication. Here are some more examples of
Planning
Advance planning
how you can eliminate wordy phrases.
Attached
Attached hereto
Not This:
This:
Afford an opportunity
Let, Allow
Results
Consequent results
Eight, 8
Eight (8)
Based on the fact
Based on
Due to the fact that
Due to
During which time
When
For the purpose of For, To
Involves the necessity of
Needs to
Since the time when
Since
Making a purchase
Buy
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Pause Video
Pause video here for additional exercises.
C h a n g i n g a B u r e au c r a c y O n e P a r a g r a p h at a T i m e
Additional Exercises on Gobbledygook
Instructions: Rewrite these sentences in plain language.
1. The persons in charge must provide for the expenditure of the funds in a manner consistent with charitable
purposes.
2. Sufficient documentation must be gathered by the applying organization to allow a determination that the applying
organization meets all of the statutory requirements for recognition of tax-exempt status.
3. I have reviewed this situation with Mr. Doe today and have conveyed to him the substance of the
correspondence.
4. Upon receipt of your inquiry, our research indicated that on May 22, 2000, a refund in the amount of $541.35
should have been scheduled to be issued to you.
5. Our records demonstrate that your constituent has rendered his quarterly deposits as overdue four times in the
last three years.
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Suggested Answers
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Suggested Answers
1.The people in charge must spend the funds for charitable purposes.
(NOTE: Persons is seen in legal documents, but we don’t have to use it even when we are
explaining the law. In conversational English, use person in the singular only. You could
also just say "Those in charge . . ." and get rid of the problem.)
2. The applying organization must have enough documentation to show it meets the requirements
for tax-exempt status.
3. I talked with Mr. Doe today and told him what the letter said.
4. We should have refunded $541.35 to you on May 22, 2000.
5. Our records show Mr. Doe paid his quarterly deposits late four times in the last three years.
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Additional Exercises on Specific, Concrete Words
Instructions: Rewrite the sentences using simple, specific, concrete (not abstract, vague) words.
1.We will apprise you of the commission’s determination on or before December 1, 2000.
2. The law provides that you must satisfy certain requirements.
3. I trust that this information will be of assistance to you in addressing your concerns.
4. To secure this waiver, IRS Form 5329 must be filed by the taxpayer.
5. The State Program is described as a taxpayer if it issues or receives bonds that purport to be tax-exempt.
6. We must receive your payments in a timely manner if you desire to abstain from penalties.
7. You are permitted to deduct a certain amount for your vehicular conveyance when it is used for occupational
purposes.
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Suggested Answers
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Suggested Answers
1. We will tell you the commission’s decision by December 1, 2000.
2. The law says you must meet certain requirements.
3. I hope this information is helpful.
4. To get the waiver, you (or Mr. Doe) must file Form 5329.
(NOTE: Secure can mean many things. Use a word that means exactly what you want to say.)
5. The State Program is considered a taxpayer if it issues or receives tax-exempt bonds.
6.We must receive your monthly payments by the 15th of each month if you want to avoid
penalties.
7. You can deduct a certain amount for your automobile when you use it for work.
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Additional Exercises on Strong Verbs
Instructions: Rewrite the sentences using strong verbs and plain language.
1. I cannot make a comment on matters involving specific organizations.
2. Mr. Doe asked when the IRS would make the decision to accept or deny his Offer in Compromise.
3. The allowable deductions for medical expenses are different from the ones for business expenses.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
4. We provided an issuance of the prepayment regulations under section 148.
5. He sent a request for a private letter ruling.
6. He must make a report of any disability pension he may secure from any source.
7. An individual can have a deduction for the cost and upkeep of work clothes.
8. I will make the suggestion that the example be clearer in the next printing.
9. Mr. Doe has inquired as to whether these vouchers would be available to all taxpayers.
10.We will give a summary of our report on the topic.
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Suggested Answers
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Suggested Answers
1. I cannot comment on matters involving specific organizations.
2.Mr. Doe asked when the IRS would accept or deny his Offer in Compromise.
3.The allowable deductions for medical expenses differ from the ones for business expenses.
4.We issued the prepayment regulations under section 148.
5. He requested a private letter ruling.
6.He must report any disability pension he receives from any source.
7.An individual can deduct the cost and upkeep of work clothes.
8. I will suggest the example be clearer in the next printing.
9.Mr. Doe asked if these vouchers would be available to all taxpayers.
10.We will summarize our report on the topic.
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Additional Exercises
on
False Subjects
Instructions: Rewrite the sentences below, removing the false subjects (subjects that carry no meaning, like
There was/It is) and using plain language.
1. There are times when the IRS is obligated to contact third parties.
2. It should be understood, however, that the persons owning the remainder interest in the property cannot claim a
deduction.
3. There is the possibility that the partnership has other options.
4. There are additional limitations applicable to both defined benefit plans.
5. It has been discovered that Mr. Doe’s application is not on file.
6. There are several revenue rulings that allow you a deduction the cost of the program.
7. There was a penalty charged for the underpayment when the second installment was posted to the wrong
account.
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Suggested Answers
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Suggested Answers
1. The IRS must contact third parties in some situations.
2.The people owning the remainder interest in the property cannot claim a deduction.
3. The partnership may have other options.
4.Additional limitations apply to both defined benefit plans.
5. Mr. Doe’s application is not on file.
6.Revenue rulings allow you to deduct the cost of the program.
7.We charged a penalty for the underpayment when we posted the second installment to the
wrong account.
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Additional Exercises on Wordy Phrases
Instructions: Rewrite the sentences below removing the wordy phrases.
1.The newly issued final regulation augments currently existing guidance with respect to the taxability of taxexempt organizations offering tours.
2. We are still in the process of gathering information from the non-requesting spouse.
3.It would appear from the Internal Revenue Service’s administrative file that the Does’ 1992 and 1993 federal
income tax returns were selected for audit in November 1994.
4.After the exchange of a large amount of information and several attempts at resolution, the parties were unable
to reach a mutually agreeable settlement.
5.A review of the evaluation reflects that Mr.Doe’s supervisor used a variety of techniques, none of which are
mandated or precluded if they assist her to credibly determine the level of performance by Mr. Doe.
6.I assure you that throughout this matter, it has been this office’s goal to collect only the proper amount of tax
from Mr. and Mrs. Doe. Just as important, it is also the government’s goal to do this with the highest degree of
integrity, efficiency, and fairness.
7.We do possess the Tax Year (TY) 1997 state individual income tax return data that was used to tabulate income
revenue collection contributions.
(NOTE: Avoid lists of nouns strung together.)
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8.According to the law, scholarships or grants received by individuals who accept these gifts for the purpose of a
program for qualified tuition in conjunction with other expenses at an institution of higher education are excluded
from the gross income of the recipient.
9.As regards the payment of interest by the IRS on estimated payments, there are no provisions in the federal tax
law that provide the means for the IRS to make a payment of interest on estimated payments prior to the due
date of the federal tax return; however, interest will be paid on a taxpayer’s overpayment of tax if the refund is
not processed within 45 days from the date the return was filed.
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Suggested Answers
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Suggested Answers
1.The final regulation gives more guidance on the taxability of tax-exempt organizations
offering tours.
2.We are getting information from the non-requesting spouse.
3.We selected the Does’ 1992 and 1993 federal income tax returns for audit in November
1994.
4.After several attempts to resolve the case, the parties were unable to agree.
5.Mr. Doe’s supervisor used several allowed techniques to help her decide Mr. Doe’s
performance level.
6.Our goal is to collect the proper amount of tax from Mr. and Mrs. Doe with integrity, efficiency,
and fairness.
7.We have the 1997 tax data we used to tabulate revenue collections by state.
8.Mr. Doe can exclude from his gross income the amount of his scholarship or grant from a
program for qualified tuition and expenses at an institution of higher education.
9.The law does not let the IRS pay interest on estimated payments received before the due
date of the federal tax return; however, we pay interest on tax overpayments if we do not
process the refund within 45 days from the due date of the tax return.
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Additional Exercises on Redundancies
Instructions: Remove the redundant words.
1.It is absolutely essential that the Code define the contribution plans clearly.
2.Mr. Doe’s subchapter S corporation now currently provides services in the capacity of an independent
contractor.
3.If Ms. Doe does not send the information in the period of time designated above, she will incur penalties.
4.We found five (5) returns with the same error.
5.In our advanced preplanning, we started with the idea of checking 500 returns from that center.
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Suggested Answers
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Suggested Answers
1. The Code must define the contribution plans clearly.
2. Mr. Doe’s subchapter S corporation provides services as an independent contractor.
3. If Ms. Doe does not send the information by the above date, she will incur penalties.
4. We found five returns with the same error.
5. We started with the idea of checking 500 returns from that center.
(NOTE: We can only plan, not preplan.)
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IRS Letter 7: Use Strong Verbs
Using strong verbs in our documents:
• Reduces the number of words in our sentences
• Avoids a bureaucratic tone
• Improves clarity
• Saves time for our readers
Weak use of verb
Strong verb
made improvements in improved
conduct further studies
study
give emphasis to the result
emphasize the result
made use of used
has application to our program
applies to our program
We underlined the strong verbs we used to replace the wordy phrases we highlighted in letter 6.
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Letter 7: Use Strong Verbs
For example:
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Letter 7
• To prepare for the
next segment of the
video, in letter 7, we
highlighted some
examples of false
subjects.
The Honorable YY ZZ
Member, U.S. House of Representatives
Local Street Address
Suite
City, State Zip
Dear Congressman ZZ:
I am responding to your letter dated March 15, 2000, on behalf of your constituent, Mr. J.
Doe. Mr. Doe has raised a number of concerns, namely that:
• The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) denied deductions and exemptions on his 1995
return.
• The IRS has subjected him to annual audits since 1990.
• An IRS auditor harassed him.
On December 14, 1999, Mr. Doe filed an Application for Taxpayer Assistance Order, Form
911, with the National Office, requesting relief from the hardship he was experiencing.
The National Office transferred his request to the local office in State to better serve your
constituent.
Upon receipt of his request for relief, the local office assigned the case to Mary YY, a
caseworker. Mr. Doe requested "...immediate reinstatement of my exemptions for 1995
and withdrawal of the Notice of Deficiency and its interest and penalty in its entirety for
1995. Additionally, I order the IRS to cease its abuse and persecution of me." This
required that the Examination Division review the file. Mr. Doe requested that Examination
begin the process immediately.
Denial of Deductions and Exemptions on 1995 Tax Return
Ms. YY asked the Examination Division to review Mr. Doe’s case. It found that Mr. Doe
could not substantiate the expenses he claimed on his Individual Income Tax Return for
tax year 1995:
•H
e could not deduct the mortgage interest, as he was paying a private investor who
was holding the mortgage he claimed.
• He could not claim contributions made to an Individual Retirement Account (IRA)
because there was no record of his IRA with the financial institution.
• He could not deduct the exemptions for the children A and B Doe, as another party
had claimed them on a return, and he could not verify that he provided more than half
of his support.
• He could not claim C. Doe because the child was 21, and Mr. Doe could not verify that
he provided more than half of his support.
While the IRS realizes that C. Doe is handicapped, normal examination procedures require
that we request information regarding all sources of support including items such as
Social Security benefits, payments from social service agencies, as well as the taxable
sources of income.
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Jim XX, of my staff, contacted Mr. Doe and explained the above. Although Mr. Doe was
unhappy with the outcome, he understood why the IRS disallowed the deductions and
exemptions.
Audits Yearly Since 1990
Mr. Doe also raised the issue of repetitive audits. We reviewed our files and found that
we did not contact him for tax years 1991, 1992, and 1993. The Underreporter Program
proposed additional tax for tax year 1994. We assessed the tax after we received no
response from him. The Franklin Service Center sent an audit notification for tax year
1995 because this was Mr. Doe’s last known address and the one the constituent used
on the return. When he contacted the IRS and informed us of his address change, we
complied with his request and transferred his case to the local IRS office in City, State.
The IRS continued the audit in City and offered him the opportunity to substantiate the
deductions. He could not do so. When the IRS conducts an audit, we make every effort
to bring the taxpayer into full compliance. This usually requires that the auditor include
subsequent years' returns. In this case, the IRS closed the 1995 tax year separately due
to statute concerns while the 1996 and 1997 tax years remained open to allow Mr. Doe
to have the opportunity to substantiate the deductions claimed on these returns. Mr. Doe
informed Mr. XX that due to his financial circumstances he could not pay the balance
due. A review of his financial statement indicated that this was accurate. The IRS
discussed with Mr. Doe the option of submitting an Offer-in-Compromise to settle the
debt. In the meantime, the IRS has placed his account in currently-not-collectible status.
We explained to Mr. Doe that while the account is in currently-not-collectible status,
interest continues to accrue; and we will apply any subsequent refunds due him to the
open balance.
Allegations of Harassment
With regard to Mr. Doe’s allegations of harassment, please be assured that the IRS takes
these matters very seriously. There is an independent organization to investigate these
complaints. We refer matters such as these to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax
Administration (TIGTA). Generally, TIGTA does not notify us of the outcome of the
investigation and subsequent corrective action because of employee privacy issues.
Once again, I apologize for the inconvenience and frustration Mr. Doe experienced in
trying to resolve this matter. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me at
(111) 222-2222.
Sincerely,
Local Office
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IRS Letter 8: With False Subjects Removed
There is
There are
There was
There were
It is
It was
In letter 8, we rewrote the sentences to get rid of false subjects. We underlined the
replacements for the false subjects.
In letter 8, we also highlighted wordy phrases; extraneous words; long, complicated
words; and the word that, an overused word. If the sentence is clear without using the
word that, please leave it out.
For example:
We researched his accounts and found that Mr. XX had non-employee
compensation for tax years 1998 and 1999.
Instead use:
We researched his accounts and found Mr. XX had non-employee compensation
for tax years 1998 and 1999.
Another example:
Our records show that the IRS sent a letter to the taxpayer on June 15, 1998.
Instead use:
Our records show the IRS sent a letter to the taxpayer on June 15, 1998.
We will remove or replace these words in letter 9.
Also, the Commissioner's Secretariat recently sent out a memo saying we no longer need
Letter 8: With False Subjects Removed
False subjects carry no meaning. We should avoid using:
to spell out the Internal Revenue Service the first time we use it in a letter. We will also
make that change in letter 9.
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The Honorable YY ZZ
Letter 8
Member, U.S. House of Representatives
Local Street Address
Suite
City, State Zip
Dear Congressman ZZ:
I am responding to your letter dated March 15, 2000, on behalf of your constituent,
Mr. J. Doe. Mr. Doe has raised a number of concerns, namely that:
• The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) denied deductions and exemptions on his
1995 return.
• The IRS has subjected him to annual audits since 1990.
• An IRS auditor harassed him.
On December 14, 1999, Mr. Doe filed an Application for Taxpayer Assistance
Order, Form 911, with the National Office, requesting relief from the hardship he
was experiencing. The National Office transferred his request to the local office in
State to better serve your constituent.
Upon receipt of his request for relief, the local office assigned the case to YY, a
caseworker. Mr. Doe requested "...immediate reinstatement of my exemptions for
1995 and withdrawal of the Notice of Deficiency and its interest and penalty in its
entirety for 1995. Additionally, I order the IRS to cease its abuse and persecution
of me." This request required that the Examination Division review the file. Mr.
Doe immediately requested that Examination begin the process.
Denial of Deductions and Exemptions on 1995 Tax Return
Ms. YY asked the Examination Division to review Mr. Doe’s case. It found that Mr.
Doe could not substantiate the expenses he claimed on his Individual Income Tax
Return for tax year 1995:
• He could not deduct the mortgage interest, as he was paying a private investor
who was holding the mortgage he claimed.
• He could not claim contributions made to an Individual Retirement Account
(IRA) because the financial institution had no record of his IRA.
• He could not deduct the exemptions for the children A and B Doe, as another
party had claimed them on a return, and he could not verify that he provided
more than half of their support.
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• He could not claim C. Doe because the child was 21, and Mr. Doe could not
verify that he provided more than half of his support.
While the IRS realizes that C. Doe is handicapped, normal examination procedures
require that we request information regarding all sources of support including
items such as Social Security benefits, payments from social service agencies, as
well as the taxable sources of income.
Jim XX, of my staff, contacted Mr. Doe and explained the above. Although he was
unhappy with the outcome, he understood why the IRS disallowed the deductions
and exemptions.
Audits Yearly Since 1990
Mr. Doe also raised the issue of repetitive audits. We reviewed our files and found
that we did not contact him for tax years 1991, 1992, and 1993. The
Underreporter Program proposed additional tax for tax year 1994. We assessed
the tax after we received no response from him. The Franklin Service Center sent
an audit notification for tax year 1995 because this was Mr. Doe’s last known
address and the one he used on the return. When he contacted the IRS and
informed us of his address change, we complied with his request and transferred
his case to the local IRS office in City, State. The IRS continued the audit in City
and offered him the opportunity to substantiate the deductions. He could not do
so. When the IRS conducts an audit, we make every effort to bring the taxpayer
into full compliance. This effort usually requires that the auditor include
subsequent years' returns. In this case, the IRS closed the 1995 tax year
separately due to statute concerns while the 1996 and 1997 tax years remained
open to allow Mr. Doe to have the opportunity to substantiate deductions claimed
on these returns. Mr. Doe informed Mr. XX that due to his financial circumstances
he could not pay the balance due. A review of his financial statement indicated
that this was accurate. The IRS discussed with Mr. Doe the option of submitting
an Offer-in-Compromise to settle the debt. In the meantime, the IRS has placed
his account in currently-not-collectible status. We explained to Mr. Doe that while
the account is in currently-not-collectible status, interest continues to accrue; and
we will apply any subsequent refunds due him to the open balance.
Allegations of Harassment
With regard to Mr. Doe’s allegations of harassment, please be assured that the IRS
takes these matters very seriously. The Congress established an independent
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95
organization to investigate these complaints. We refer matters such as these to
the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA). Generally, TIGTA
does not notify us of the outcome of the investigation and subsequent corrective
action because of employee privacy issues.
Once again, I apologize for the inconvenience and frustration Mr. Doe experienced
in trying to resolve this matter. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact
me at (111) 222-2222.
Sincerely,
Local Office
Play Video
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Basic Grammar Rules for Editing Your Document
C. The Congress passed a law today, which will
permit new deductions.
Answer: A
After writing your first draft, allow the document to
cool for a while. Take a break from the document to
clear your mind. Then, apply some basic grammar
Exercise 2
rules. We will look at the following commonly confused
A. Your refund, which remains unclaimed from your
1990 return, is the one we wrote about.
words:
That and Which
Affect and Effect
Bi-words, such as bimonthly, biweekly
Principal and Principle
May and Can
Entitled and Titled
B. Your refund that remains unclaimed from your
1990 return is the one we wrote about.
Answer: B
Exercise 3
A. We follow the laws that have a lot of history
We will also look at demonstrative pronouns.
That and Which
around them.
B. We follow the laws, which have a lot of history
around them.
Answer: B
We use this sentence to help us remember when to
use that and which:
People that live in glass houses
shouldn’t throw stones.
If we took out "that live in glass houses," we would
change the meaning of the sentence. The sentence
doesn’t mean "people shouldn’t throw stones." Only
Video Exercises:
a special category of people, those that live in glass
Instructions: Choose the sentence that correctly
houses shouldn’t throw stones. Therefore, the clause
uses that or which.
"that live in glass houses is essential.” (Note: The
sentence should read, "People who live in glass
Exercise 1
houses," but the example is an easy way to remember
A. The Congress passed a law today that will permit
the rule.)
new deductions.
B. The Congress passed a law today which will
permit new deductions.
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In general, we overuse the word that. If the clause
makes sense without that, please leave it out.
Some examples:
Unnecessary that:
The IRS records showed that we reviewed
and closed out tax years 1995, 1996, and
1997 as satisfied.
That removed:
The IRS records showed we reviewed and
closed out tax years 1995, 1996, and 1997
With affect and effect, there are actually four words,
as satisfied.
which is why there is so much confusion around them.
Two of them are the common ones we use everyday.
Here’s how to tell them apart:
Unnecessary that:
What documentation is needed to show
that the debtor cannot pay the debt?
Affect = verb
The new law affected the Earned Income Tax Credit.
That removed:
What documentation is needed to show the
debtor cannot pay the debt?
Effect = noun
The new law will have an effect on the number of
people who qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit.
Affect and Effect
Use this rule for the commonly used affect and effect,
Video Exercise:
and you will be right 99% of the time.
Instructions: Choose the sentence that correctly
uses effect/affect.
A. The new law also affected the Earned Income Tax
Credit.
B. The new law also effected the Earned Income Tax
Credit.
Answer: A
The other two uses of effect and affect are rarely used
in our everyday correspondence.
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Principal and Principle
They are the use of effect as a verb – as in effect a
change. It means to bring about.
The other use of affect is as a noun. It is used in
psychology and refers to our ability to feel emotions.
The word affection comes from it.
Bi-Words
Video Exercise:
Instructions: Choose the sentence that correctly
uses principal/principle.
A. The principal reason for the lien was nonpayment of
back taxes.
Video Exercise:
B. The principle reason for the lien was nonpayment of
back taxes.
Instructions: Choose the correct sentence.
Answer: A
A. You must send your payments bimonthly.
The word principal confuses some writers because it
also means the person who is the head of a school.
B. You must send your payments biweekly.
The principal is our pal. Teachers used this technique
C. You must send your payments semimonthly.
to help us spell the word. It may help to remember
that the principal of a school is the main teacher. Over
Answer: ? Don’t use bi-words; they are too
confusing.
the years we dropped teacher and were left with
principal, which means main.
Don’t use the bi-words. We don’t want our readers to
Principle with the "le" is a noun meaning "belief, moral
wonder whether they have to do something twice a
standard, or law governing the operation of
month or every other month.
something."
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Can and May
Do not use it to mean titled as in the title of a book or
report.
Correct use of entitled:
She was entitled to the deductions.
Correct use of titled:
Thank you for the opportunity to respond to
your report titled "The IRS Needs to Improve
Customer Service."
Or you could just say:
Thank you for the opportunity to respond to
your report, "The IRS Needs to Improve
Video Exercises:
Customer Service."
Instructions: Choose the sentence that correctly
Demonstrative Pronouns
uses can/may.
RULE 6
Demonstrative Pronouns
A. Mr. Doe may pay the money he owes in monthly
installments.
The demonstrative pronouns are:
This
These
That
Those
B. Mr. Doe can pay the money he owes in monthly
installments.
Answer: B
void using a demonstrative pronoun without
A
defining the noun it refers to.
When referring to what the law allows, it is better to
say, "The taxpayer can pay electronically or send in a
paper copy." Using may sounds like we are granting
them permission.
Try to avoid vague uses of demonstrative pronouns
An example of an appropriate use of may is:
(usually when the pronoun is used without the noun it
"A taxpayer may be eligible for penalty abatement in
is describing). In letters we review, we often see the
certain circumstances."
pronoun this used to refer to the complete sense or
meaning of the previous sentence. Unfortunately, the
(These next two sections on entitled and titled and
word isn’t strong enough to carry the full meaning and
demonstrative pronouns are not covered in the video,
leaves our readers confused about what we are
but we thought you might find them helpful.)
referring to.
Entitled and Titled
Below is an example of the vague use of a demonstrative
pronoun we often see in our letters:
Entitled and titled are also commonly confused words.
Use entitled to mean a right to do or have something.
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This is in reply to your letter dated…
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This what? This letter, this report, this discussion, this
Exercise 1
answer, this argument…
A. Because of disclosure restrictions we cannot
comment on specific actions we take regarding
A much better opening to a letter is:
This letter is in reply to your inquiry
dated…
your constituent.
B. Because of disclosure restrictions, we cannot
comment on specific actions we take regarding
your constituent.
An even better and more personal opening is:
Answer: B
I am responding to your letter dated…
Put in a comma to separate an introductory phrase
from the main sentence.
Another example of the vague use of a demonstrative
Exercise 2
pronoun:
A. Mr.Doe retired but he is working as a contractor for
This is a nationwide scheme, which has
the company.
resulted in false claims totaling millions of
dollars.
B. Mr. Doe retired, but he is working as a contractor for
the company.
It’s better to say:
Answer: B
This nationwide scheme has resulted in
Separate two sentences joined by a coordinating
false claims totaling millions of dollars.
conjunction with a comma. What are coordinating
conjunctions? We use a memory device to help keep
them straight. We call them the BOYFANS.
Basic Punctuation Rules for
Editing Your Document
The final step in preparing your document is to review
common punctuation rules.
Punctuation supports
structure, logic, and meaning. It makes our writing
easier to follow. Punctuation shows the pauses and
stresses of everyday speech. Let’s look at the rules for
some commas that give us so much trouble.
Using Commas
Video Exercises:
Coordinating conjunctions often join two independent
Instructions: Choose the sentence with the correct
clauses. When you use them to join two independent
use of the comma.
clauses, put a comma before the conjunction unless
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101
the clauses are short and closely related. You can also
You should use the comma before the and to prevent
use a semi-colon in place of the coordinating
the reader from misunderstanding the document.
conjunction.
Exercise 5
Exercise 3
A. The 401(k) plans were then "frozen," and the receiver
A. To deduct the ordinary expenses which they are
terminated the plans.
entitled to they must keep records.
B. 401(k) plans were than "frozen", and the receiver
B. To deduct the ordinary expenses, which they are
terminated the plans.
entitled to, they must keep records.
Answer: A
Answer: B
Put commas inside quotation marks. That rule is the
Just as we learned in the exercise on that and which, put
same for periods too. This convention is now standard
commas around nonessential information.
in the United States. British usage places commas and
periods inside or outside the quotation marks, depending
Exercise 4
on whether or not they are part of the quotation.
A. To deduct the ordinary expenses, they must keep
records of the cost, date, place and purpose of each
Semicolons and colons are always placed outside of
trip.
closing quotation marks.
B. To deduct the ordinary expenses, they must keep
Place dashes, question marks, and exclamation marks
records of the cost, date, place, and purpose of each
inside of the quotation marks if they are part of the
trip.
quotation.
Otherwise, place them outside of the
quotation marks.
Answer: B
In a list or series of items, put a comma before the and.
Some of you may have learned the comma before the
and in a series of items is optional. Some punctuation
rules have changed over time, and this is one of those
rules. A court case in Washington, DC, emphasized the
importance of that comma before the and. A woman
died and left her property to her four children: Joan, Eric,
Jenny and Joseph with no comma before the and. The
Court ruled the property should be split three ways: one
portion to Joan; one portion to Eric; and one portion split
between Jenny and Joseph.
The judge used the
analogy of toast, bacon and eggs. He said toast, bacon,
Pause Video
and eggs are three items on a plate. While toast, bacon
and eggs are two items, toast and an omelet.
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Pause video here for additional exercises.
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Additional Exercises on That and Which
Instructions: Circle the correct word. Then, if you choose which, put in the commas.
1. A. It was part of a law that/which the Congress passed last year to help small businesses. (You are giving them
"nice to know but not necessary to know" information.)
B. It was part of a law that/which the Congress passed last year to help small businesses. (You are referring to
a law the Congress passed last year, as opposed to a law the Congress passed three years ago.)
2. Employers can choose the calculations that/which work best for their situations.
3. The adjustments that/which Mr. Doe made to the return, may be incorrect.
4. "Some people believe with great fervor preposterous things that/which just happen to coincide with their selfinterest."
5.The Code sets minimum funding standards that/which qualified retirement plans must meet.
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Suggested Answers
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Suggested Answers
1. A. It was part of a law, which the Congress passed last year, to help small businesses.
B. It was part of a law that the Congress passed last year to help small businesses.
(NOTE: You can just drop that so the sentence reads "It was part of a law the Congress
passed last year to help small businesses.")
2. Employers can choose the calculations that work best for their situations. (The phrase explains
what calculation to choose.)
3. The adjustments that Mr. Doe made to the return may be incorrect. (The clause explains what
adjustments may be incorrect.)
4. "Some people believe with great fervor preposterous things that just happen to coincide with
their self-interest." (The phrase explains what things.)
5.The Code sets minimum funding standards that qualified retirement plans must meet. (The
phrase defines what minimum funding standards.)
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Additional Exercises on Affect and Effect
Instructions: Circle the correct word.
1. The law will not affect/effect your case.
2. We don’t know the long-term affect/effect of the law on our objectives.
3. The bill will affect/effect a change in school construction bonds.
4. Affect/effect is a feeling or emotion, not a thought or action.
5. The law had an unexpected affect/effect on the tax credits available to working mothers.
6. They tried to pass the bill for the affect/effect it would have on elections.
7. They tried to pass the bill in time to affect/effect the elections.
8. The affect/effect of the debate was to show the benefits and disadvantages of the bill.
9. The new regulations will take affect/effect January 1.
10. The controversial section would affect/effect health care providers.
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Suggested Answers
1. The law will not affect your case.
2. We don’t know the long-term effect of the law on our objectives.
3.The bill will effect a change in school construction bonds. (In your letter, you would just say
“The bill will change school construction bonds.”)
4. Affect, in psychological jargon, is a feeling or emotion, not a thought or action (with the
accent on the first syllable).
5. The law had an unexpected effect on the tax credits available to working mothers.
6. They tried to pass the bill for the effect it would have on elections.
7. They tried to pass the bill in time to affect the elections.
8. The effect of the debate was to show the benefits and disadvantages of the bill.
9. The new regulations will take effect January 1.
10. The controversial section would affect health care providers.
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Additional Exercises on Bi-Words
Instructions: Rewrite these sentences so you don’t have to use the bi-word.
1. We have arranged for Mr. Doe to make bimonthly payments.
2. We spend over a month collecting information for the biannual report.
3. We will send out email notices biweekly.
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Suggested Answers
1.A. We have arranged for Mr. Doe to pay twice a month (or on the 1st and 15th of each month, if you need to be
specific).
B. We have arranged for Mr. Doe to pay every two months (or on the first of January, March, May, July, September,
and November, if you need to be specific).
2. We spend over a month collecting information for the January and July reports.
3. We will send out the email notices twice a week (or every two weeks)
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Additional Exercises
on
Principal
and
Principle
Instructions: Circle the correct word.
1.The principal/principle behind the provision is taxpayer privacy.
2. Closing the tax loophole is the principal/principle reason for our decision.
3. One of the principals/principles behind the modernization effort is to give taxpayers better customer service.
4. Doe is doing the principal/principle work on the bill.
5. He wants this payment to go toward the principal/principle, not toward the interest of the loan.
6. They agreed with him in principal/principle.
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Suggested Answers
1. The principle behind the provision is taxpayer privacy.
2. Closing the tax loophole is the principal reason for our decision.
3. One of the principles behind the modernization effort is to give taxpayers better customer
service.
4. Senator Doe is doing the principal work on the bill.
5. He wants this payment to go toward the principal, not toward the interest of the loan.
6. They agreed with him in principle.
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Additional Exercises on May and Can
Instructions: Circle the appropriate word.
1.A taxpayer can/may give up to $10,000 a year to an individual.
2. He can/may leave his entire estate to his wife with no estate tax due as long as the value does not exceed
$675,000.
3. You can/may find additional information in the enclosed pamphlet.
4. They can/ may file early if the accountant is available.
5. You can/may apply for an installment agreement.
6. Depending on your circumstances, you can/may qualify for an installment agreement.
7. You can/may call me at (111) 222-3333.
8.You can/may have to leave the money in the account until the case is settled.
9. The law can/may change before the end of the year.
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Suggested Answers
1.A taxpayer can give up to $10,000 a year to an individual. (A taxpayer has the right to.)
2.He can leave his entire estate to his wife with no estate tax due as long as the value does not
exceed $675,000. (He has the right to.)
3. You can find additional information in the enclosed pamphlet. (You are mentally, physically
able to. You could also use will here.)
4. A. They can file early if the accountant is available. (They have the right to.)
B. They may file early if the accountant is available. (They might decide to.)
5. You can apply for an installment agreement. (You have the right to.)
6. Depending on your circumstances, you may qualify for an installment agreement. (You may
or may not qualify.)
7. You can call me at (111) 222-3333. (You have the right to.)
8.You may have to leave the money in the account until the court settles the case. (You
perhaps will have to.)
9. The law may change before the end of the year. (It possibly will change.)
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Additional Exercises on Punctuation
Instructions: Insert punctuation where it is needed.
1.At 8:00 a.m. we will meet with the taxpayer in Room 214.
2. You filed your 1996 return on time and we credited your overpayment to your account for the 1994 tax year.
3. I apologize for the delay however we wanted to be thorough in our investigation.
4. We adjusted Mr. Doe’s liabilities for 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995.
5. Although the courts have already ruled on this issue Mr. Doe and others continue to dispute it.
6. We want to comply with the disclosure provisions of section 6103 which prohibit our disclosing tax information
to third parties without proper authorization.
7. If a second person tries to electronically file a return using the same SSN the computer will reject it.
8. The computer will reject the return if a second person tries to electronically file using the same SSN.
9. We sent the official rejection letter detailing the appeal process to the last address we had for Mr. Doe.
10."Shall" as used in section 6001 means "must" "must" means "to be required to" and the courts have upheld
this definition.
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Suggested Answers
1. At 8:00 a.m., we will meet with the taxpayer in Room 214.
(NOTE: The comma is optional for three words or less, unless the reader could
misread it.)
2. You filed your 1996 return on time, and we credited your overpayment to your account
for the 1994 tax year.
3. I apologize for the delay; however, we wanted to be thorough in our investigation.
4. We adjusted Mr. Doe’s liabilities for 1992, 1993, 1994, and 1995.
5. Although the courts have already ruled on this issue, Mr. Doe and others continue to
dispute it.
6. We want to comply with the disclosure provisions of section 6103, which prohibit our
disclosing tax information to third parties without proper authorization.
7. If a second person tries to electronically file a return using the same SSN, the computer
will reject it.
8. The computer will reject the return if a second person tries to electronically file using the
same SSN. (NOTE: Sentence #7 contains an introductory clause, but #8 doesn’t.)
9. We sent the official rejection letter, detailing the appeal process, to the last address we
had for Mr. Doe. (NOTE: Put commas around information that is not essential.)
10. A. "Shall" as used in section 6001 means "must," "must" means "to be required to,"
and the courts have upheld this definition.
B."Shall" as used in section 6001 means "must." "Must" means "to be required to,"
and the courts have upheld this definition.
C. "Shall" as used in section 6001 means "must"; "must" means "to be required to," and
the courts have upheld this definition.
(NOTE: If you used a comma or period to separate the two "musts," put it inside the
quotes. If you use a semicolon between them, put it outside the quotes.)
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We avoid wordy phrases that add no value to our written communication. Unnecessary
words take time and often make our documents difficult to read.
In letter 9 we removed wordy phrases; extraneous words; long, complicated words; and
the word that.
In letter 9, we also highlighted the long paragraph under the heading, Audits Yearly Since
1990. Because this paragraph has more than one idea, we broke it into 4 paragraphs on
different topics.
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Letter 9: Use Plain Language to Make Your Message Clear
Letter 9 – Use Plain Language to Make Your Message Clear
127
The Honorable YY ZZ
Letter 9
Member, U.S. House of Representatives
Local Street Address
Suite
City, State Zip
Dear Congressman ZZ:
I am responding to your letter dated March 15, 2000, on behalf of your constituent, Mr.
J. Doe. Mr. Doe raised several concerns that:
• The IRS denied deductions and exemptions on 1995 return.
• The IRS has subjected him to annual audits since 1990.
• An IRS auditor harassed him.
On December 14, 1999, Mr. Doe filed an Application for Taxpayer Assistance Order,
Form 911, with the National Office, requesting hardship relief. The National Office
transferred his request to the local office in State. The local office assigned the case to
Mary YY, a caseworker.
Denial of Deductions and Exemptions on 1995 Tax Return
Ms. YY asked the Examination Division to review Mr. Doe’s case. It found Mr. Doe
could not substantiate the expenses he claimed on his Individual Income Tax Return for
tax year 1995:
• He could not deduct the mortgage interest, as he was paying a private investor who
was holding the mortgage he claimed.
• He could not claim contributions made to an Individual Retirement Account (IRA)
because the financial institution had no record of his IRA.
• He could not deduct the exemptions for the children A and B Doe, as another party
had claimed them on a return, and he could not verify that he provided more than
half of their support.
• He could not claim C. Doe because the child was 21, and Mr. Doe could not verify
that he provided more than half of his support.
While IRS realizes that C. Doe is handicapped, normal examination procedures require
us to ask for information on all sources of support including items such as Social
Security benefits, payments from social service agencies, as well as the taxable
sources of income.
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Jim XX, of my staff, contacted Mr. Doe and explained these procedures. Although Mr. Doe
was unhappy with the outcome, he understood why the IRS disallowed the deductions and
exemptions.
Audits Yearly Since 1990
Mr. Doe also complained of repetitive audits. We reviewed our files and found we did not
contact him for tax years 1991, 1992, and 1993. For tax year 1994, the Underreporter
Program proposed additional tax. We assessed the tax after we received no response from
him. For tax year 1995, the Franklin Service Center sent an audit notification because this
was Mr. Doe’s last known address and the one used on the return. When he contacted the
IRS with his address change, we complied with his request and transferred his case to the
local IRS office in City, State. The IRS continued the audit in City and offered him the
opportunity to substantiate the deductions. He could not do so. When the IRS conducts an
audit, we make every effort to bring the taxpayer into full compliance. Normally, the auditor
will examine subsequent years' returns. In this case, the IRS closed the 1995 tax year
separately due to statute concerns while the 1996 and 1997 tax years remained open to allow
Mr. Doe time to substantiate deductions claimed on these returns. Mr. Doe told Mr. XX that
he could not pay the balance due. A review of his financial statement confirmed this claim.
Mr. XX discussed with Mr. Doe the option of submitting an Offer-in-Compromise to settle the
debt. In the meantime, the IRS placed his account in currently-not-collectible status. We
explained to Mr. Doe that while the account is in currently-not-collectible status, interest
continues to accrue; and we will apply any future refunds due him to the open balance.
Allegations of Harassment
As for Mr. Doe’s allegations of harassment, please be assured the IRS takes these matters
very seriously. We refer matters such as these to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax
Administration (TIGTA). Generally, TIGTA does not notify us of the outcome of the
investigation and any corrective action because of employee privacy issues.
I apologize for the inconvenience and frustration Mr. Doe experienced in trying to resolve this
matter. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me at (111) 222-2222.
Sincerely,
Local Office
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Letter 10: Final IRS Letter
In the final version of our IRS letter, we broke up the large block of text under the Audits
Yearly Since 1990 heading, removed redundancies, added a few personal pronouns,
and used concrete words. We hope you think this letter is an improvement over the
Letter 10: Final IRS Letter
original one. We will count on you to tell us ways we can make it even better.
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The Honorable YY ZZ
Letter 10:
Final IRS Letter
• Almost final. We
can always make
improvements.
Member, U.S. House of Representatives
Local Street Address
Suite
City, State Zip
Dear Congressman ZZ:
I am responding to your letter dated March 15, 2000, on behalf of your constituent,
Mr. J. Doe. Mr. Doe raised the following issues:
• The IRS denied deductions and exemptions on his 1995 return.
• The IRS has subjected him to annual audits since 1990.
• An IRS auditor harassed him.
On December 14, 1999, Mr. Doe requested hardship relief by filing an Application for
Taxpayer Assistance Order, Form 911. The National Office transferred his request to the
local office in State, which assigned the case to Mary YY, a caseworker.
Denial of Deductions and Exemptions on 1995 Tax Return
Ms. YY asked the Examination Division to review Mr. Doe’s case. It found Mr. Doe
could not support the expenses he claimed on his Individual Income Tax Return for
1995. Without supporting information, he could not:
•Deduct mortgage interest, as he was paying a private investor who was holding the
mortgage he claimed.
• Claim contributions made to an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) because the
financial institution had no record of his IRA.
•Deduct the exemptions for the children A and B Doe, as another party had claimed
them on a return, and he could not verify that he provided more than half of their
support.
•Claim C. Doe because the child was 21, and Mr. Doe could not verify he provided
more than half of his support.
While the IRS realizes that C. Doe is handicapped, normal examination procedures
require us to ask for information on all sources of income including Social Security
benefits, payments from social service agencies, and taxable sources of income.
Jim XX, of my staff, contacted Mr. Doe and explained these procedures. Although Mr.
Doe was unhappy with the outcome, he understood why the IRS disallowed the
deductions and exemptions.
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Audits Yearly Since 1990
Mr. Doe also complained of repetitive audits. We reviewed our files and found we did
not contact him for tax years 1991, 1992, and 1993. Our Underreporter Program
proposed additional tax for tax year 1994. We assessed the tax after we received no
response from him.
The Franklin Service Center sent the audit notification for tax year 1995 to Mr. Doe’s last
known address, which he used on his return. When he contacted the IRS with his
address change, we complied with his request and transferred his case to the local IRS
office in City, State. The IRS continued the audit in City and offered him the opportunity
to verify his deductions. He could not do so.
When the IRS conducts an audit, we work to bring the taxpayer into full compliance.
This effort usually requires the auditor to examine previous years' returns. In Mr. Doe's
case, the IRS closed the 1995 tax year separately due to statute concerns and left the
1996 and 1997 tax years open to allow him time to support the deductions claimed on
these returns.
Mr. Doe told Mr. XX he could not pay the balance due. Our review of his financial
statement confirmed his claim. Mr. XX discussed with Mr. Doe the option of submitting
an Offer-in-Compromise to settle the debt. I am enclosing information on offers-incompromise. In the meantime, the IRS placed his account in currently-not-collectible
status. We explained to Mr. Doe that while the account is in currently-not-collectible
status, interest continues to accrue; and we will apply any refunds due him to the open
balance.
Allegations of Harassment
As for Mr. Doe’s allegations of harassment, the IRS takes these matters very seriously.
We referred his allegations to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. We
cannot disclose the results of the investigation or any corrective actions because of
employee privacy issues.
I apologize for the inconvenience and frustration Mr. Doe experienced in trying to
resolve this matter. If you have questions, please contact me at (111) 222-2222.
Sincerely,
Local Office
Enclosure
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Video Evaluation Form
Please take a minute to give us feedback on the video. Please circle your response and/or write in comments. We
appreciate your input to help us improve our program.
Please fax your form to 202-622-4733 or mail to:
Internal Revenue Service, Attention: Mary Dash, CL:LA Room 3236,
1111 Constitution Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20224
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