Erin M. Collins

National Taxpayer Advocate

Erin Collins is the “voice of the taxpayer” within the IRS and before Congress. Under her leadership, the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS), an independent organization within the IRS, helps taxpayers resolve their IRS account issues, advocates on behalf of taxpayers, and works towards systemic change to mitigate taxpayer problems. She joined the Taxpayer Advocate Service in March 2020 to advocate for taxpayers, protect their rights, and work toward improving the quality of taxpayer service and tax administration.

Erin has more than 35 years of experience in tax law, spanning 15 years in the IRS Office of Chief Counsel and 20 years at the accounting firm of KPMG LLP, where she retired in 2019 as the Tax Managing Director in charge of its tax controversy practice for the Western region. As a Special Trial Attorney for the IRS, she was responsible for the development and litigation of high-profile, complex tax cases. Erin was the Industry Counsel for Savings and Loans during the time of the S&L crisis. Over a six-year period, she worked very closely with the Treasury Department, the Commissioner, the Office of Chief Counsel, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Resolution Trust Corporation. In both 1995 and 1997, she received Chief Counsel’s highest award, the National Litigation Award. In 1993, she received the Western Region’s highest Litigation Award for her outstanding achievements.

At KPMG, Erin represented thousands of individuals, partnerships, small companies, and corporate taxpayers on technical and procedural tax matters. She represented clients in federal examinations and IRS appeals on domestic and international tax issues, including transfer pricing disputes, foreign tax credits, research and experimentation credit claims, net operating loss utilization calculations, restructurings, treaty interpretations, executive compensation, and application of accounting methods. She also has represented several clients before the U.S. Tax Court.

Erin was the co-author of the Practising Law Institute’s IRS Practice and Procedure Deskbook and has spoken frequently on IRS practice, procedure, controversy, and litigation matters before many professional organizations. Before joining TAS, she represented a number of clients pro bono to help them resolve issues with the IRS. She was also a volunteer and board member of a non-profit organization, Step Up, whose mission was to help girls in under-resourced communities to fulfill their potential by empowering them to become confident, college-bound, career-focused, and ready to join the next generation of professional women.