IRS Appeals Has a New Leader and the Previous Leader Has Concerns
Most IRS battles never go to court.
They end at Appeals.
The IRS Independent Office of Appeals is where tax controversies either get resolved… or escalate to tax court.
Recently, a new chief of Appeals has been appointed, which leaves the old chief, Elizabeth Askey, with a few thoughts about appeals, the obstacles it faces, and what needs to be addressed moving forward.
What Direction is the Appeals Process Heading?
Appeals isn’t some obscure department.
It affects how disputes get resolved. It affects how long cases take. And it affects the fairness of resolutions.
Let’s break down three concepts that Ms. Askey believes the new chief needs to address.
1. Restoring Confidence in Appeals’ Independence
Appeals only works if taxpayers and representatives trust it.
But over the past few years, trust has eroded.
One of the biggest complaints from practitioners has been this: Appeals officers appear to defer too heavily to IRS specialists. In theory, specialists are there to help Appeals understand complicated issues.
And that makes sense.
But here's the concern.
Specialists sometimes came into settlement conferences with a predetermined settlement idea based on the technical aspect but without accounting for the circumstances surrounding the case.
That's not how appeals is supposed to work.
Appeals isn’t supposed to rule on positions developed in a vacuum without considering the practical aspects of the case. Its role is to also weigh litigation risk.
Meaning: If the IRS pushed this case into court, what would actually happen? Would the government win? Would the taxpayer win? Or would the judge land somewhere in between?
That analysis is what drives settlements and keeps cases out of tax court.
When Appeals functions properly, it's a highly effective dispute resolution system. But when decisions don't reflect reality, people start losing confidence in it.
Ms. Askey believes restoring confidence in appeals should be one of the new chief's biggest priorities going forward.
2. Appeals Take a LONG Time
If you’ve ever had a client in appeals, you already know this.
Getting a hearing takes months. Deadlines get pushed out. And the process stretches on for months—or sometimes years.
At one point, the average Appeals cycle time reached 372 days! That’s more than a year just to get an independent determination from Appeals.
To their credit, the IRS did manage to improve things. By 2025, cycle time had dropped to about 269 days, the lowest in six years.
The cycle time is still pretty damn long, but it has decreased by over 100 days.
Askey believes those gains could reverse.
Why?
Reportedly, Appeals lost 28% of its staff within the last year. That kind of loss significantly reduced capacity, but maybe more importantly, Appeals lost a ton of institutional knowledge.
Experienced employees have years of experience handling cases, negotiating settlements, and evaluating litigation potential. You can't just teach this stuff. It comes with doing, and less experienced employees don't have that luxury.
3. IRS Technology is Ancient
The Appeals office used a case management system called ACDS (Appeals Centralized Database System).
It’s decades old. And as you might've guessed, it doesn't work well.
When a case arrives, someone literally has to manually enter case information into the system. Sometimes that means typing data from paper files. At times, the process involves copying and pasting data from electronic documents.
And not surprisingly, it slows everything down.
Not only is appeals working with a system that's old as hell, but it also has to interact with 17 different IRS systems, most of which were built decades apart from one another and therefore can't communicate with each other.
According to Ms. Askey, technology upgrades are absolutely necessary for appeals to be effective
Looking Ahead
Appeals is undeniably important to the IRS system for resolving controversies without the need for Tax Court.
The former chief of appeals has made her list of priorities clear:
Rebuild staffing levels.
Restore confidence in independence, and
Modernize outdated technology.
For professionals whose clients run into IRS problems, how the IRS addresses these concerns will have real consequences for those clients moving forward.
TL;DR
⏩ The IRS recently appointed new leadership to the Independent Office of Appeals and the former chair has outlined concerns.
⏩Practitioners have lost confidence in an Appeals system that they believe defers too much to IRS specialists.
⏩Appeal delays are a major issue, and staffing losses threaten to make the wait even longer.
⏩Outdated IRS technology creates inefficiencies in the Appeals process.
➥ Contact Attorney Stephen A. Weisberg for a free Tax Debt Analysis.
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