A bipartisan bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) reforming how the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) handles civil asset forfeiture cases became law on July 1 as part of a landmark IRS reform bill.
“I applaud President Trump for signing this legislation to ensure all American citizens are afforded the due process guaranteed by our Constitution,” said Rep. Collins.
The president on Monday signed into law the larger Taxpayer First Act, H.R. 3151, which includes Rep. Collins’ Clyde-Hirsch-Sowers RESPECT Act, H.R. 1219 — or the Restraining Excessive Seizure of Property through the Exploitation of Civil Asset Forfeiture Tools (RESPECT) Act — which the congressman introduced on Feb. 14 to ensure the assets of both Americans and small business owners aren’t wrongly seized by the IRS under civil asset forfeiture policies.
“With the RESPECT Act finally becoming law, law-abiding citizens can rest easy knowing they no longer have to fight the federal government just to prove their innocence,” Rep. Collins said.
The RESPECT Act was inspired in part by U.S. Navy veteran Andrew Clyde, owner of Clyde Armory in Rep. Collin’s 9th Congressional District. The IRS in 2013 seized nearly $940,000 from Clyde’s bank account without charging him with a crime because he was regularly depositing large sums of cash from his business, according to the lawmaker’s office.
Under the new law, the IRS is prohibited “from carrying out seizures relating to a structuring transaction unless the property to be seized derived from an illegal source or the funds were structured for the purpose of concealing the violation of another criminal law or regulation, to require notice and a post-seizure hearing for such seizures,” according to the text of Rep. Collins’ bill.
“For too long, hardworking individuals and small business owners — like Andrew Clyde — have fallen victim as the IRS has abused civil asset forfeiture,” said Rep. Collins. “I want to thank Andrew Clyde for his advocacy and persistence in getting this bill passed.”