S 4046 · 117th Congress 2021–2023, ended

Simplify, Don’t Amplify the IRS Act

Latest action · Apr 7, 2022 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.

  1. IntroducedApr 7, 2022
  2. Passed SenateNot reached
  3. Passed HouseNot reached
  4. To the PresidentNot reached
  5. Became lawNot reached

Summary

Simplify, Don't Amplify the IRS Act

This bill limits Internal Revenue Service (IRS) enforcement authority and modifies certain IRS reporting requirements. It also eliminates certain restrictions on the use of coronavirus recovery funds.

Among other provisions, the bill

  • increases the gross receipts reporting threshold for certain religious and charitable organizations from $5,000 to $50,000;
  • generally increases penalties for unauthorized disclosure of taxpayer information and for such disclosures by tax return preparers;
  • requires the IRS to establish a fellowship program to recruit private sector tax experts to create a task force to. among other things, educate IRS employees on emerging issues, perform audits, and address offshore tax evasion; and
  • sets forth provisions for reducing improper payments to taxpayers.

The bill also requires the IRS to report annually on the tax gap estimate for the most recent taxable year. The IRS must use artificial intelligence to calculate an estimate of the tax gap. The bill defines tax gap as the difference between tax liabilities owed to the United States and those liabilities actually collected.

The bill restricts funding for IRS audits and enforcement until the IRS publishes an updated tax gap projection.

Cosponsors

Members who signed on, in the order they did.

No cosponsors are on file for this measure.

Committees 1

Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.

ChamberCommitteeWhat it did
SenateFinance Committee
Referred Apr 7, 2022

Actions 2

Everything that happened, newest first.

  1. Apr 7, 2022Introduced in Senate
  2. Apr 7, 2022Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

In the Congressional Record 1

Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.

WhereIn the RecordMembersDate
SenateDebate and remarks S2607, S2608Mike Braun R-IN, Ron Wyden D-ORMay 19, 2022

Research

What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.

Printed hearings 1

Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.

NumberHearingCommitteeHeld
S. Hrg. 117-423LAWS AND ENFORCEMENT GOVERNING THE POLITICAL ACTIVITIES OF TAX-EXEMPT ENTITIES113 pagesFinance CommitteeMay 4, 2022

Related bills 14

Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.

Titles 2

Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.

Official Title as Introduced
A bill to amend the Social Security Act to remove the restriction on the use of Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery funds, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to codify the Trump administration rule on reporting requirements of exempt organizations, and for other purposes.
Short Title(s) as Introduced
Simplify, Don’t Amplify the IRS Act

Subjects

Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Taxation.

Text 1

Each version as it was printed, newest first.

  1. Apr 7, 2022Introduced in Senate

Support LegiList

This page is free, carries no paywall, and is built and maintained by one person. If the record here is useful to you, a few dollars keeps it going.

Processed by Stripe in a separate window. LegiList never sees card details.

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; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.