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

“I won’t stand by while bureaucrats in Washington try to strip away valuable services that help rural Mainers keep more of the money they’ve earned,” said Congressman Golden. “Closing the Taxpayer Assistance Center in Bangor will leave many Maine people without a resource they need to file their taxes, to take advantage of tax incentives, and to maximize their refund. I’m working with Senators Collins and King to get answers from the IRS and reopen the Bangor TAC facility.” 

“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 Golden, Collins, King. “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.

Read a copy of the letter here.