Senators Collins, King, and Representative Golden Push for IRS to Reopen Bangor Taxpayer Assistance Center

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Angus King (I-ME), and Representative Jared Golden (ME-02) urged the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to reject the recent closure of the last remaining Taxpayer Assistance Center (TAC) in Maine’s Second Congressional District. The members of Congress wrote to the IRS urging agency leadership to reject the move and provide answers on how IRS will meet the needs of rural Mainers. 

“We urge [the IRS] to reject this decision, which would exacerbate the service problems that residents in rural Maine already experience with the recent closures of other TACs in the area,” wrote Senators Collins, King, and Representative Golden. “Some of Maine’s most disadvantaged counties rely on Bangor as their primary service center, and eliminating this staffed office would create a real hardship for hard-working rural Mainers.”

Taxpayer Assistance Centers provide free, one-on-one tax counseling, and provide free tax preparation assistance to lower income Americans. For communities without reliable access to the internet or tax preparation assistance, TACs can provide essential services to help citizens file returns and receive the full refunds to which they’re entitled. If the Bangor TAC closure continues, some Mainers will now have to drive more than 275 miles to meet with an IRS professional to resolve a tax issue or to receive free, personalized advice.

While the IRS maintains that the Bangor office closure is temporary, the same rationale was used to close the Presque Isle staffed TAC in late 2018. That office has not been reopened. The IRS also permanently closed a Lewiston staffed TAC in 2015. The members of Congress also expressed a desire to work with IRS to reopen a permanent, staffed TAC in Aroostook County.

Click HERE to read the letter.