[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1901 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 1901

To amend the Freedom of Information Act to provide electronic access to 
 certain Internal Revenue Service information on the Internet, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 1, 1998

    Mr. Leahy (for himself, Mr. Ashcroft, Mr. Reid, and Mr. Wyden) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Freedom of Information Act to provide electronic access to 
 certain Internal Revenue Service information on the Internet, and for 
                            other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Taxpayers Internet Assistance Act of 
1998''.

SEC. 2. INTERNET AVAILABILITY OF INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE RECORDS UNDER 
              THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT.

    (a) Internal Revenue Service Records Available on the Internet.--
Section 552(a) of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding 
after paragraph (6) the following:
            ``(7) The records of the Internal Revenue Service made 
        available under paragraphs (1) and (2) created on or after 
        November 1, 1996, and all Tax Forms, Instructions, and 
        Publications created in the most recent 5-year period shall be 
        made available electronically on the Internet in a searchable 
        database not later than the date such records are made 
        available to the public in printed form.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall take 
effect 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 3. STUDY AND REPORT ON TAXPAYER ONLINE SERVICES.

    (a) Study.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of the Treasury, in 
        consultation with the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue 
        Service, shall conduct a study on how to use the technological 
        advances of the Internet to provide more timely and effective 
        service to taxpayers.
            (2) Content.--The study conducted under this section shall 
        include the review of--
                    (A) online access to taxpayer information;
                    (B) the protection of taxpayer privacy rights;
                    (C) the security of online taxpayer services;
                    (D) comments from the public on online taxpayer 
                services; and
                    (E) estimates on the time and costs for 
                implementing online taxpayer services after the date of 
                the enactment of this Act.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Secretary shall submit a report to Congress on the 
results of the study conducted under this section. Such report shall 
include recommendations on ensuring the quality, timeliness, privacy, 
and security of online taxpayer services and promoting public 
participation in the development of future online taxpayer services.
                                 <all>