Nina Olson: The Softer Side of the IRS

Since 2001, Nina Olson, the IRS's national taxpayer advocate, has been on a mission: to make sure taxpayers' rights are protected when they're up against a government agency that many Americans find intimidating, if not downright terrifying. Under her tenure, the Taxpayer Advocate Service, created in 1996, has helped more than 4 million taxpayers resolve problems, ranging from frozen tax refunds to tax liens that threaten an individual's livelihood.

The Taxpayer Advocate Service is designed to help taxpayers who "have a significant hardship as a result of IRS actions or are about to experience significant hardship," Olson says. In some cases, the TAS may get involved even though "the IRS is doing