Rice sponsors companion bill to simplify, reform IRS

U.S. Rep. Tom Rice (R-SC) on April 7 sponsored legislation combining numerous bills aimed at reforming operations at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

“Before giving the IRS a dime of new funding, they must begin serving the best interest of American taxpayers,” Rep. Rice said last week. “The legislation I introduced today, alongside Senator Braun, reforms the IRS and ensures they will act in good faith and accountability to the taxpayers who fund them.” 

The Simplify, Don’t Amplify the IRS Act, H.R. 7485, which Rep. Rice introduced in his chamber as a companion bill to the same-named S. 4046, sponsored on April 7 by U.S. Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN), would combine multiple bills introduced by Sen. Braun to reform the IRS.

According to the congressional record bill summaries, the newly proposed legislation contains reforms from the following bills: 

• Let States Cut Taxes Act, S. 730, which would remove a prohibition on states and territories using COVID-19 relief funding under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to offset a reduction in revenue resulting from a reduction in taxes or a delay in the imposition of a tax or tax increase.
• Don’t Weaponize the IRS Act, S. 1777, which would codify regulations promulgated by the Trump administration exempting certain tax-exempt organizations from specified reporting requirements.
• IRS Customer Service Improvement Act, S. 2132, which would prohibit agency employees from engaging in taxpayer-funded union time during tax filing season.
• Protect Taxpayers’ Privacy Act, S. 2222, which would increase to $250,000 the criminal penalty for unauthorized disclosures of taxpayer information by federal employees and tax return preparers.
• Tax Gap Reform and IRS Enforcement Act, S. 2721, which would require the IRS to report to Congress on projections of the estimated tax gap (i.e., the difference between tax liabilities owed to the IRS and those liabilities that the IRS actually collects). The IRS may use artificial intelligence and related data analysis tools to calculate a tax gap projection.
• IRS Improper Payments Act, S. 3221, which would reduce improper payments and eliminate waste in federal programs, among other provisions.

“The IRS was intended to serve as a non-partisan organization to collect America’s taxes,” said Rep. Rice. “President Biden supports regressive tax policies that weaponize the agency to target hard-working taxpayers and conservative organizations.”

Further, according to Rep. Rice, “the current administration champions overreaching reporting requirements that have potential to harm main street banks and taxpayers everywhere.”