Dale Bumpers: “First of all, when I was Governor of my State, one of the first orders I issued was that any employee of the Arkansas…”

“First of all, when I was Governor of my State, one of the first orders I issued was that any employee of the Arkansas Revenue Department would be summarily fired if it was found that that employee, without provocation, was rude to a taxpayer. And within 3 weeks we fired one employee, and it had an unbelievable impact on the conduct of everybody else. We had very little trouble out of the revenue department during my 4 years as Governor. No. 2, insofar as the Speaker's proposal to spend a minimum of $30 million doing a survey, sending out a questionnaire to the taxpayers of this country asking how do you feel about your taxes and how do you feel about the IRS, I can save him that $30 million. I already know the answer. Every Member of this body knows the answer to that question. People think they are overtaxed and they think the IRS is filled with a bunch of arrogant bureaucrats whose whole purpose in life is to make people miserable. Finally, my question concerns this matter of attorney fees. Could you tell us what the criteria is in tax court? Let me walk through a case. Let's say the IRS sends you a notice and says we have determined in looking over your tax return that you owe us an additional $5,000, and here is why. And you write back and say I disagree. At that point, the burden is on you to prove that you don't owe $5,000, and under this bill the burden will remain on you to prove that you don't owe $5,000.”