[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4362 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4362

To provide effective criminal prosecutions for certain identity thefts, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 16, 2012

 Ms. Wasserman Schultz (for herself and Mr. Smith of Texas) introduced 
    the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide effective criminal prosecutions for certain identity thefts, 
                        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 ``Stopping Tax Offenders and 
Prosecuting Identity Theft Act of 2012'' or the ``STOP Identity Theft 
Act of 2012''.

SEC. 2. USE OF DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE RESOURCES WITH REGARD TO TAX 
              RETURN IDENTITY THEFT.

    (a) In General.--The Attorney General should make use of all 
existing resources of the Department of Justice, including any 
appropriate task forces, to bring more perpetrators of tax return 
identity theft to justice.
    (b) Considerations To Be Taken Into Account.--In carrying out this 
section, the Attorney General should take into account the following:
            (1) The need to concentrate efforts in those areas of the 
        country where the crime is most frequently reported.
            (2) The need to coordinate with State and local authorities 
        for the most efficient use of their laws and resources to 
        prosecute and prevent the crime.
            (3) The need to protect vulnerable groups, such as 
        veterans, seniors, and minors (especially foster children) from 
        becoming victims or otherwise used in the offense.

SEC. 3. VICTIMS OF IDENTITY THEFT MAY INCLUDE ORGANIZATIONS.

    Section 1028(d)(7) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 
striking ``specific individual'' and inserting ``specific person''.

SEC. 4. TAX FRAUD AS A PREDICATE FOR AGGRAVATED IDENTITY THEFT.

    Section 1028A(c) of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (10), by striking ``or'';
            (2) in paragraph (11), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; or''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(12) section 7206 or 7207 of the Internal Revenue Code of 
        1986.''.

SEC. 5. REPORTING REQUIREMENT.

    (a) Generally.--Beginning with the first report made more than 9 
months after the date of the enactment of this Act under section 1116 
of title 31, United States Code, the Attorney General shall include in 
such report the information described in subsection (b) of this section 
as to progress in implementing this Act and the amendments made by this 
Act.
    (b) Contents.--The information referred to in subsection (a) is as 
follows:
            (1) Information readily available to the Department of 
        Justice about trends in the incidence of tax return identity 
        theft.
            (2) The effectiveness of statutory tools, including those 
        provided by this Act, in aiding the Department of Justice in 
        the prosecution of tax return identity theft.
            (3) Recommendations on additional statutory tools that 
        would aid in removing barriers to effective prosecution of tax 
        return identity theft.
            (4) The status on implementing the recommendations of the 
        Department's March 2010 Audit Report 10-21 entitled ``The 
        Department of Justice's Efforts to Combat Identity Theft''.
                                 <all>