112 STAT. 702 PUBLIC LAW 105-206—JULY 22, 1998 the daily operation of the local office of the taxpayer advocate; Notification. "(iii) shall, at the initial meeting with any taxpayer seeking the assistance of a local office of the taxpayer advocate, notify such taxpayer that the taxpayer advocate offices operate independently of any other Internal Revenue Service office and report directly to Congress through the National Taxpayer Advocate; and "(iv) may, at the taxpayer advocate's discretion, not disclose to the Internal Revenue Service contact with, or information provided by, such taxpayer. "(B) MAINTENANCE OF INDEPENDENT COMMUNICA- TIONS.—Each local office of the taxpayer advocate shall maintain a separate phone, facsimile, and other electronic communication access, and a separate post office address. " (d) ADDITIONAL DUTIES OF THE TREASURY INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR TAX ADMINISTRATION.— "(1) ANNUAL REPORTING.— The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration shall include in one of the semiannual reports under section 5 of the Inspector General Act of 1978— "(A) an evaluation of the compliance of the Internal Revenue Service with— "(i) restrictions under section 1204 of the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 on the use of enforcement statistics to evaluate Internal Revenue Service employees; "(ii) restrictions under section 7521 on directly contacting taxpayers who have indicated that they prefer their representatives be contacted; "(iii) required procedures under section 6320 upon the filing of a notice of a lien; "(iv) required procedures under subchapter D of chapter 64 for seizure of property for collection of taxes, including required procedures under section 6330 regarding levies; and "(v) restrictions under section 3707 of the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 on designation of taxpayers; "(B) a review and a certification of whether or not the Secretary is complying with the requirements of section 6103(e)(8) to disclose information to an individual filing a joint return on collection activity involving the other individual filing the return; "(C) information regarding extensions of the statute of limitations for assessment and collection of tax under section 6501 and the provision of notice to taxpayers regarding requests for such extension; "(D) an evaluation of the adequacy and security of the technology of the Internal Revenue Service; "(E) any termination or mitigation under section 1203 of the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998; "(F) information regarding improper denial of requests for information from the Internal Revenue Service identified under paragraph (3)(A); and
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