Donna Russell
Indianapolis,Indiana
Summary
Dedicated Taxpayer Case Advocate with proven expertise in case management, problem solving, and effective communication. Committed to educating and supporting taxpayers to ensure their rights and responsibilities are understood.
Overview
25
25
years of professional experience
Work History
Taxpayer Case Advocate
Internal Revenue Service, IRS
Indianapolis, IN
11.2021 - 09.2025
- Assisted taxpayers in understanding complex tax regulations and procedures.
- Performed specialized research, analysis, and necessary computations to make adjustments to taxpayers' accounts that had specialized factors, using highly developed institutional knowledge of internal processes.
- Educated taxpayers and/or their representatives regarding tax obligations, responsibilities, rights, and options, including possible adverse consequences of decisions.
- Conferred with taxpayers who had experienced delays beyond normal processing time, a significant hardship, or where systemic issues had been identified and actions taken, clarifying the basis of the complicating problem and citing applicable laws as necessary.
Management and Program Analyst
Internal Revenue Service, IRS
Indianapolis, IN
12.2023 - 04.2025
- Worked with various business units to modernize their processes by implementing Enterprise Case Management Office (ECMO) Organization Readiness, Incident Management, User Acceptance Testing (UAT), and Reports Training.
- Used agile framework skills to provide suggestions that aligned with and supported ECMO’s and the Service’s initiative to eliminate paper case file and modernize case management by incorporating the use of digital tools.
- Created, directed, and delivered employee training for project team members.
- Served as a liaison to stakeholders by responding to inquiries surrounding process improvement status and IRWorks Tickets.
Advisory Tax Examiner
Internal Revenue Service, IRS
Indianapolis, IN
10.2010 - 11.2021
- Analyzed Judicial Foreclosure complaints and Quiet Title complaints to determine if the defendant(s) listed was the correct taxpayer and if so, was the liability still outstanding.
- Made lien determinations on behalf of the government.
- Worked with the US Attorney's Office (USAO) and Area Counsel for the states of Indiana and Wisconsin and provided written documentation on the IRS's behalf regarding lien position.
- Processed trust fund cases for assessment for field collection services and monitored and notated Appeals cases to ensure the statute had not expired.
Contact Representative
Internal Revenue Service, IRS
Indianapolis, IN
12.2000 - 10.2010
- Frontline Manager Dec 2009 - Oct 2010
- Lead Contact Representative Feb 2008 - Sept 2009
- Answered tax law questions pertaining to credits, filing requirements and dependency issues as well as small business accounts such as depreciation, self-employment taxes, estimated taxes, rental/farming/minister income, employee/contractor expenses, business use of the home, etc.
- Researched individual accounts and provided refund/balance due information.
- Performed adjustments and credit transfers, input extensions and installment agreements, and completed referrals to other areas (Taxpayer Advocate and Service Center) when necessary.
- Worked written inventory and made adjustments when necessary.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Marketing
Indiana University of Indianapolis
Indianapolis, IN12-1999
Skills
- Case management
- Customer service
- Problem solving
- Attention to detail
- Effective communication
- Employee training
- Case preparation
- Legal research
- Document review
- Crisis support
- Multitasking capacity
- Teamwork and collaboration
- Tax compliance
- User acceptance testing
- Research skills
- Proficient in Microsoft and various IRS systems
- Software development
- Software testing
- Professionalism
- Written communication
Accomplishments
- Performance Award, 2003-2022
- Manager's Award, 2008-2009, 2012, 2018, 2020, 2024
Affiliations
- FEW, Federal Employee Women's Program 2009-2011
- AIM-IRS, Association for Improvement of Minorities 2009-2011
- CFIRE, Christian Fundamentalist Internal Revenue Employees 2003-Present
References
References available upon request.
Timeline
Management and Program Analyst
Internal Revenue Service, IRS
12.2023 - 04.2025
Taxpayer Case Advocate
Internal Revenue Service, IRS
11.2021 - 09.2025
Advisory Tax Examiner
Internal Revenue Service, IRS
10.2010 - 11.2021
Contact Representative
Internal Revenue Service, IRS
12.2000 - 10.2010
Bachelor of Science - Marketing
Indiana University of Indianapolis