Frank
Taxpayer Advocate Service Program Analyst

My current position in the Internal Revenue Service Is as a program analyst in the Taxpayer Advocate Service.

In order to provide you with a better understanding of what I do, it's important that I tell you what the Taxpayer Advocate Service is.

It's an independent function of the Internal Revenue Service that assists taxpayers that are having problems, that might not have been able to work through normal channels of the Internal Revenue Service, or that are experiencing economic burdens, or just in some way thinks that the Internal Revenue Service isn't working, for some reason -- they'll come to the Taxpayer Advocate Service.

The Taxpayer Advocate Service allows people to have a voice in the Internal Revenue Service. We're their last line of defense. And a lot of times when people come to us, they're at their wits' end, and they're very frustrated with the Internal Revenue Service.

And you'll listen to them vent for a while, and then you tell them, "What you need to realize "is that I'm your best friend right now. "And I'm going to take care of everything, and I'm going to make it better, if I can, and usually, I can."

If you want to come into the Taxpayer Advocate Service, there are entry-level positions. You can start as an administrative assistant.

You can even come in as an intake advocate, where you would be answering phones and screening the potential cases for the Taxpayer Advocate Service. We have recently even hired case advocates from outside of the Internal Revenue Service.

The training that you receive from the Taxpayer Advocate Service consists of several months of actual classroom training. You'll go to three different phases of classroom training, and you can be on-the-job instruction for 6 to 8 months.

When my three kids were born, I was given six weeks of family health leave, and I was able to be with my children for the first six weeks of their lives. And I was paid for that, too.

So they take care of their employees here at the Internal Revenue Service and the Taxpayer Advocate Service.