House passes H.R. 1957, Taxpayer First Act of 2019
House passes H.R. 1957, Taxpayer First Act of 2019
The U.S. House of Representatives today passed, by voice vote, H.R. 1957, the Taxpayer First Act of 2019.
The bill was approved by the Ways and Means Committee on April 2, 2019. Read TaxNewsFlash
Among the tax provisions in the bill (according to a summary of the bill from the Ways and Means Committee) are measures that would:
- Reinforce the independence of the appeals process
- Ensure that taxpayers have access to the same information as the IRS during the dispute resolution process
- Require the IRS to submit to Congress a plan to redesign the structure of the agency to improve efficiency, enhance cybersecurity, and better meet the needs of taxpayers
- Make sure that, when the IRS performs an audit, actual notice is provided to taxpayers before the agency contacts friends, neighbors, and clients
- Require the IRS to submit to Congress a comprehensive plan to improve its customer service strategy, based on best practices from the private sector
- Overhaul the IRS’s tools of enforcement so that assets are not seized without proper, timely, and fair notice
- Strengthen IRS accountability by codifying the roles and responsibilities of the IRS Chief Information Officer and requiring annual information technology strategic planning
- Provide for easier electronic submission of tax return forms and supporting documentation
- Strengthen the IRS’s ability to proactively combat identity theft tax refund fraud by creating a single point of contact for victims of identity theft, codifying the Security Summit, and providing the IRS with the ability to safely share additional information with specified Information Sharing and Analysis Center members
- Enhance the potential impact of Taxpayer Advocate Directives
- Restrict the use of third-party summons and modifying authority to issue designated summons
- Requiring submission of a comprehensive training schedule for all IRS employees
- Authorizing streamlined critical pay authority of IT personnel
What's next?
The U.S. Senate would need to pass the bill next, and if or when the Senate would consider the bill is uncertain.
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