Taxpayer Bill of Rights Enhancement Act of 2015
Latest action · Jun 16, 2015 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedJun 16, 2015
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Taxpayer Bill of Rights Enhancement Act of 2015
Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to provisions affecting taxpayer rights, to:
- direct the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to ensure that its employees are familiar with and act in accord with enumerated taxpayer rights;
- increase criminal and civil penalties for unauthorized disclosure or inspection of taxpayer information and allow punitive damages for willful unauthorized inspection or disclosure;
- prohibit the disclosure of taxpayer information to any contractor or other agent of a governmental entity without appropriate safeguards;
- increase the limit on civil damages for unauthorized acts by IRS employees and allow punitive damages for IRS employees who act recklessly and intentionally;
- extend to two years the time limit for contesting a tax levy or for seeking a return of wrongfully-levied property;
- allow tax-exempt organizations to obtain a declaratory judgment with respect to their initial or continuing tax-exempt status;
- permit the waiver of user fees for taxpayers who agree to automated installment payments;
- allow the beneficiary of an individual retirement account to re-contribute to such an account amounts that have been wrongfully-levied without regard to contribution limits;
- grant the Department of the Treasury discretion in requiring an opinion of the General Counsel on any compromise of tax liability;
- require Treasury to submit any proposed or temporary regulation to the National Taxpayer Advocate for comment;
- raise exemption limits applicable to individual and corporate taxpayers required to make estimated tax payments;
- permit the disclosure of collection activities relating to a joint account upon the oral request of either spouse (currently, a written request is required);
- authorize Treasury to disclose taxpayer information for purposes of paying a tax refund by using any means of mass communication, including the Internet;
- authorize Treasury to disclose certain information about an investigation of possible violations of internal revenue laws; and
- require tax-exempt organizations to file their tax returns in electronic form.
Amends the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 to require: (1) the termination of any IRS employee for performing, delaying, or failing to perform (or threatening to perform, delay, or fail to perform) any official action (including an audit) for purposes of extracting personal gain or benefit or for a political purpose; and (2) at least one IRS appeals officer and one settlement officer to be located and permanently available in each state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
Requires IRS email records to be retained: (1) in an appropriate electronic system that supports records management and litigation requirements, and (2) for a 15-year period after such email records are generated. Prohibits an IRS officer or employee from using a personal email account to conduct official business.
Provides that the 10% penalty for failure to make a timely deposit of taxes shall not apply to taxpayers who have made a timely deposit but not in the manner required by law.
Directs the IRS to maintain a program that provides free tax and electronic filing services to low-income and elderly taxpayers.
Cosponsors 3
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Jun 16, 2015 to Jul 30, 2015, with 1 there on the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-SD | John Thune | Original | Jun 16, 2015 |
| R-GA | Johnny Isakson | Jun 24, 2015 | |
| R-KS | Pat Roberts | Jul 30, 2015 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Jun 16, 2015Introduced in Senate
- Jun 16, 2015Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Related bills 4
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 709 | Prevent Targeting at the IRS Act | Related bill | Apr 16, 2015 |
| S 943 | Taxpayer Bill of Rights Act of 2015 | Related bill | Apr 15, 2015 |
| HR 1058 | Taxpayer Bill of Rights Act of 2015 | Related bill | Apr 16, 2015 |
| HR 1152 | IRS Email Transparency Act | Related bill | Apr 16, 2015 |
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Taxation.
- Accounting and auditing
- Administrative law and regulatory procedures
- Administrative remedies
- Aging
- Civil actions and liability
- Debt collection
- Department of the Treasury
- Employee benefits and pensions
- Employee performance
- Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
- Government ethics and transparency, public corruption
- Government information and archives
- Income tax rates
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
- Lawyers and legal services
- Political movements and philosophies
- Poverty and welfare assistance
- Public contracts and procurement
- Right of privacy
- Tax administration and collection, taxpayers
- Tax-exempt organizations
- Taxation
- User charges and fees
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Jun 16, 2015Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.