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Washington, D.C.—As part of their continuing customer service commitment to taxpayers, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees across the country will take part in more than 180 IRS open houses this Saturday, March 27, to help people address tax issues and meet their tax responsibilities.

The open houses, at which taxpayers will be able to work directly with IRS employees on a variety of tax-related matters, will run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., local time; the location of participating offices is available at the IRS web site, www.irs.gov.

“The IRS workforce knows the best way for a taxpayer to address a tax issue he or she might have is to meet directly with a trained agency employee who can assist in working through that issue,” said President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), which represents IRS employees.

These open houses will help taxpayers address, in particular, issues stemming from economic hardships, and will provide an opportunity for them to make payment arrangements or get assistance in dealing with any of the provisions of last year’s economic stimulus legislation. These provisions include the homebuyer tax credit, the American Opportunity Credit dealing with education, the Making Work Pay credit and the expanded earned income tax credit.

Along with this Saturday’s program, the IRS said it would open many of its offices on an additional three Saturdays later this spring.

In years past, IRS employees often have made themselves available in structured programs like this during what usually are non-work hours in order to help taxpayers get or stay compliant with their tax obligations, President Kelley said.

“They understand how important it is for taxpayers to get the help they need,” she said, “and they look forward to the interaction with them. Employees derive a great deal of satisfaction from their participation in this program. They see it as an important part of the filing season, and as an effective way to emphasize the customer service aspect of their work.”

NTEU is the largest independent federal union, representing 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments.