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Part 13. Taxpayer Advocate Service

Chapter 4. TAS TAMIS Guide

Section 1. General TAMIS Information

13.4.1  General TAMIS Information

13.4.1.1  (01-15-2005)
Introduction to TAMIS

  1. Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) cases are identified from various sources. Based on criteria explained in IRM 13.1.7, Taxpayer Advocate Case Processing,cases must be controlled and tracked.

  2. The Taxpayer Advocate Management Information System (TAMIS) is an Oracle web based inventory control and report system used to control and track TAS cases and provide management information.

  3. Effective case control is a critical factor in delivering appropriate levels of customer service to the taxpaying public. TAMIS provides online access to case information, and transfer, referral, and quality review capabilities as required by RRA '98.

  4. TAMIS is a critical TAS management vehicle for identifying, recording and analyzing tax laws or IRS processes that cause taxpayer burden and significant hardship. The data is used for the National Taxpayer Advocate's Annual Report to Congress and for initiating and proposing legislative or administrative remedies to alleviate these problems.

  5. The accuracy of TAMIS data is critical to TAS in determining its training needs, staffing requirements, level of customer satisfaction, and systemic issues for the Annual Report to Congress. Without accurate data, TAS has no basis on which to found its basic premises for various parts of its operation.

    • Training needs - TAS uses TAMIS data (e.g., issue codes, types of tax returns, types of filers, complete case histories, accurate referrals to operating divisions) to determine tax problems worked in TAS and quality of casework which in turn points to particular processes for which case advocates may need more expertise or training.

    • Resources requirements (i.e., staffing) - TAS uses TAMIS data such as complexity of casework and types of systemic issues to determine the number of case advocates in particular grade levels needed to completely resolve TAS cases.

    • Customer satisfaction - TAS extracts TAMIS data for closed cases each month for its contractor to perform the TAS customer satisfaction survey. Accuracy of data such as taxpayer name, power of attorney name, telephone numbers, addresses, case issues, and type of tax and tax year involved in the problem is critical because the contractor makes to contact with previous TAS customers to determine in which areas the customers are or are not satisfied with TAS' work. In turn, TAS offices to determine areas needing improvement use the results from the customer satisfaction data.

    • Annual Report to Congress - The NTA must report independently to Congress twice each year. In the yearly December report, the NTA discusses the most serious problems taxpayers face and recommends legislative solutions to tax problems. Much of the analysis for this report is based on an analysis of TAMIS data to determine the most serious issues and changes needed in tax legislation.

  6. Through the use of TAMIS, case documentation is enhanced and simplified by the use of check boxes for required actions and prompts.

  7. This chapter of IRM 13 is designed to assist you in understanding the use and capabilities of TAMIS in managing TAS workload and collecting data about the systems and processes that impact TAS. Therefore, it is critical that data input into this system is accurate.

13.4.1.2  (01-15-2005)
TAMIS Database

  1. The TAMIS database, application programs, and the form files are housed on the server located at the Detroit Computing Center (DCC).

  2. The TAMIS program provides a series of Window-based screens. The main screens are as follows:

    • Action Plan

    • Attachments (future TAMIS enhancement)

    • Case Actions

    • Chargeout

    • Closing Action

    • Congressional

    • Employee

    • Employee Inventory

    • History

    • Initial Actions

    • Letter and Forms Generation (future TAMIS enhancements)

    • Manager Inventory

    • OAR

    • POA

    • Referral

    • Related Cases

    • Reopen

    • Reports

    • Taxpayer Screens

    • Third Party

    • Transfer

13.4.1.3  (01-15-2005)
Scope of TAMIS

  1. The volume of case receipts recorded on TAMIS is between 200,000 - 300,000 cases annually. TAMIS maintains both current and prior fiscal year cases on an active database and the proceeding two fiscal years on an archived or inactive database.

  2. The provisions of the handbook must be followed so that uniformity in definition and reporting occurs nationally.

  3. As stated in the IRS/NTEU Taxpayer Advocate Service Agreement, TAMIS is the exclusive case processing system and is mandated for all employees' use.


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