WASHINGTON DC (June 13, 2019) — Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles "Chuck" Grassley released the following statement on the Senate passage of the Taxpayer First Act. The House of Representatives passed the bipartisan bill on Monday. It now goes to President Donald Trump to be signed into law.
“This bipartisan, bicameral bill represents years of hard work and consensus-building. It’s a big first step toward strengthening tax-payer protections and turning the IRS into the customer-service organization it ought to be,” Sen Grassley said. “I look forward to President Trump signing it into law so the IRS can begin implementing long overdue reforms that will put taxpayers first.”
Sen Grassley introduced the Taxpayer First Act in the Senate earlier this year with Ranking Member Ron Wyden. The bipartisan Senate legislation:
- Establishes an independent office of appeals within the IRS;
- Requires the IRS to submit to Congress plans to redesign the structure of the agency to improve efficiency, modernize technology systems, enhance cyber-security, and better meet tax-payer needs;
- Includes a number of provisions to help protect tax-payers from tax-ID theft and improve tax-payer interaction with the IRS should they become a victim of this crime;
- Expands to all tax-payers an IRS program that currently only allows victims of tax-ID theft to obtain a personalized PIN that better secures their identity;
- Puts in place new safeguards to protect tax-payers against recent IRS enforcement-abuses of so-called “structuring laws”;
- Improves the IRS whistleblower program by:
- authorizing the IRS to communicate with whistleblowers during the processing of their claims, while also protecting tax-payer privacy; and
- extending anti-retaliation provisions to IRS whistleblowers that are presently afforded to whistleblowers under other whistleblower laws;
- Modifies the private debt-collection program to ensure lower-income Americans are not targeted, while also strengthening the long-term viability of the program; and
- Codifies the successful Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, allowing the IRS up to $30 million for matching grants to qualifying tax-preparation sites.
