[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3523 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3523

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for audits of the 
     Internal Revenue Service to ensure that employees and service 
  contractors of the Internal Revenue Service file their Federal tax 
            returns on time and pay Federal tax debts owed.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 18, 2013

 Mr. Kingston 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 for audits of the 
     Internal Revenue Service to ensure that employees and service 
  contractors of the Internal Revenue Service file their Federal tax 
            returns on time and pay Federal tax debts owed.

    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 ``IRS Accountability Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Internal Revenue Manual requires all Internal 
        Revenue Service employees, and contract employees, to file 
        their Federal tax returns on time and pay any Federal tax debt.
            (2) The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration 
        reports that as of June 14, 2012, 691 of the 13,591 Internal 
        Revenue Service contractor employees reviewed by the Treasury 
        Inspector General for Tax Administration had $5.4 million in 
        Federal tax debt.
            (3) Of the 691 contractor employees, 352 were not currently 
        on a payment plan to resolve their tax debt.
            (4) The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration 
        also found that while the Internal Revenue Service reviews 
        employee tax compliance every year, the Internal Revenue 
        Service only reviews contract employee tax compliance only once 
        every five years or if the contract employee has had longer 
        than a two-year break in service.

SEC. 3. TAX COMPLIANCE BY INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE EMPLOYEES AND 
              CONTRACTORS.

    (a) In General.--Subchapter A of chapter 80 of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

``SEC. 7811. TAX COMPLIANCE BY INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE EMPLOYEES AND 
              CONTRACTORS.

    ``(a) Employee and Contractor Tax Compliance Audits.--Not later 
than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this section, and 
annually thereafter, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax 
Administration shall conduct annual audits of employees and service 
contractors of the Internal Revenue Service to determine tax compliance 
with the following acts and omissions punishable under paragraphs (8) 
and (9) of section 1203(b) of the Internal Revenue Service 
Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998:
            ``(1) willful failure to file any return of tax required 
        under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 on or before the date 
        prescribed therefor (including any extensions), unless such 
        failure is due to reasonable cause and not to willful neglect, 
        and
            ``(2) willful understatement of Federal tax liability, 
        unless such understatement is due to reasonable cause and not 
        to willful neglect.
    ``(b) Penalty.--
            ``(1) Internal revenue service employees.--See section 1203 
        of the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 
        1998 for provisions relating to personnel actions against 
        employees of the Internal Revenue Service in case of 
        misconduct.
            ``(2) Service contractor.--If there is a final 
        administrative or judicial determination that a service 
        contractor committed an act or omission described in subsection 
        (a), then--
                    ``(A) in the case of contracts entered into after 
                the date of the enactment of this section, the 
                employment or contract relationship (as the case may 
                be) with the service contractor, and any individual 
                providing services to the service contractor determined 
                in such determination to have committed such act or 
                omission, shall be terminated, and
                    ``(B) the contractor shall be debarred for not less 
                than 5 years, as determined by the Secretary.
    ``(c) Limitation on Contract Authority.--The Internal Revenue 
Service may not enter into a contract after the date of the enactment 
of this section for services unless the contract contains a clause 
under which the service contractor agrees to be subject to this 
section.
    ``(d) Service Contractor.--For purposes of this section, the term 
`service contractor' means any contractor providing services to the 
Internal Revenue Service, including any agent of such contractor and 
any subcontractor of such contractor providing such services, and any 
employee or intern of any such contractor or subcontractor providing 
such services.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for subchapter A of 
chapter 80 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at 
the end the following new item:

``Sec. 7811. Tax Compliance by Internal Revenue Service employees and 
                            contractors.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply with respect to audits conducted after the date of the enactment 
of this Act.
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