[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3214 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3214

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide that property may 
   be seized for the collection of taxes only with the approval of a 
 private, volunteer panel of attorneys, certified public accountants, 
                          and enrolled agents.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 12, 1998

  Mr. McKeon introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide that property may 
   be seized for the collection of taxes only with the approval of a 
 private, volunteer panel of attorneys, certified public accountants, 
                          and enrolled agents.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. LEVY PERMITTED ONLY AFTER APPROVAL OF PRIVATE, VOLUNTEER 
              PANEL OF ATTORNEYS, CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS, AND 
              ENROLLED AGENTS.

    (a) In General.--Section 6331 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
(relating to levy and distraint) is amended by redesignating subsection 
(i) as subsection (j) and by inserting after subsection (h) the 
following new subsection:
    ``(i) Requirement of Approval by Private Panel Before Levy.--
            ``(1) In general.--Levy may be made under subsection (a) 
        upon the salary or wages or other property of any person with 
        respect to any unpaid tax only after such levy is approved by 
        the levy review panel for the internal revenue district in 
        which such levy is to be made.
            ``(2) Scope of review.--A levy review panel shall approve a 
        levy unless a majority of the members of the panel determine 
        that--
                    ``(A) other means of collecting the unpaid tax 
                (including installment agreements under section 6159) 
                are more appropriate than the levy, or
                    ``(B) the Internal Revenue Service has not complied 
                with the requirements of this title or the regulations 
                thereunder relating to levies.
            ``(3) Levy review panel.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Each levy review panel shall 
                consist of 3 individuals--
                            ``(i) each of whom is an attorney with an 
                        expertise in Federal taxation, a certified 
                        public accountant, or an enrolled agent,
                            ``(ii) at least one of whom is such an 
                        attorney, and
                            ``(iii) at least one of whom is a certified 
                        public accountant.
                    ``(B) Appointment of members.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The members of the levy 
                        review panel for an internal revenue district 
                        for any period shall be jointly selected by the 
                        Internal Revenue Service district director for 
                        such district and the appropriate appointing 
                        authority from among a pool of attorneys, 
                        certified public accountants, and enrolled 
                        agents who have been selected jointly by such 
                        director and the appropriate appointing 
                        authorities.
                            ``(ii) Appropriate appointing authority.--
                        For purposes of clause (i), the appropriate 
                        appointing authority is--
                                    ``(I) in the case of attorneys, the 
                                head of the State bar association for 
                                the State in which the panel will sit,
                                    ``(II) in the case of certified 
                                public accountants, the President and 
                                Executive Director (jointly) of the 
                                Society of Certified Public Accountants 
                                for such State, and
                                    ``(III) in the case of enrolled 
                                agents, the President of the affiliate 
                                of the National Association of Enrolled 
                                Agents for such State.
                    ``(C) Panel for each district.--A levy review panel 
                shall be appointed for each internal revenue district.
                    ``(D) Meetings.--The levy review panel for any 
                internal revenue district shall meet at such times as 
                are specified by the Internal Revenue Service district 
                director for such district.
                    ``(E) Members to serve without compensation.--
                Members of levy review panels shall serve without 
                compensation and shall not be reimbursed for any 
                expense associated with service on any levy review 
                panel.
            ``(4) Protection against conflicts of interest.--Members of 
        any levy review panel shall be treated as special government 
        employees (as defined in section 202 of title 18, United States 
        Code). The preceding sentence shall not apply for purposes of 
        section 207 of such title.
            ``(5) Claims.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Members of a levy review panel 
                shall have no personal liability under Federal law with 
                respect to any claim arising out of or resulting from 
                an act or omission by such member within the scope of 
                service as a member. The preceding sentence shall not 
                be construed to limit personal liability for criminal 
                acts or omissions, willful or malicious conduct, acts 
                or omissions for private gain, or any other act or 
                omission outside the scope of the service of such 
                member on the levy review panel.
                    ``(B) Effect on other law.--This paragraph shall 
                not be construed--
                            ``(i) to affect any other immunities and 
                        protections that may be available to such 
                        member under applicable law with respect to 
                        service on a levy review panel,
                            ``(ii) to affect any other right or remedy 
                        against the United States under applicable law, 
                        or
                            ``(iii) to limit or alter in any way the 
                        immunities that are available under applicable 
                        law for Federal officers and employees.
            ``(6) Jeopardy.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a levy if 
        the Secretary has made a finding under the last sentence of 
        subsection (a) that the collection of tax is in jeopardy.
            ``(7) Protection of return information.--Nothing in this 
        subsection shall be construed to permit the disclosure of 
        returns or return information (as defined in section 6103).''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply to levies issued after the date which is 6 months after the date 
of the enactment of this Act.
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