[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2581 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2581

 To ensure that enforcement of Federal tax law by the Internal Revenue 
  Service is not influenced by political bias, inaccurate sources of 
 information, or bias at the individual examiner or department level, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 25, 2016

   Mr. Burr introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
                  referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To ensure that enforcement of Federal tax law by the Internal Revenue 
  Service is not influenced by political bias, inaccurate sources of 
 information, or bias at the individual examiner or department level, 
                        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 ``Biased IRS Audit Systems Prevention 
Act''.

SEC. 2. ENSURING AUDIT TRANSPARENCY AND FAIRNESS.

    (a) Audit Transparency.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall--
                    (A) not later than the time a taxpayer is notified 
                a tax return has been selected for an audit by the 
                Internal Revenue Service, provide to the taxpayer 
                sufficient information regarding the reason the tax 
                return was selected for an audit, and
                    (B) preserve, in accordance with paragraph (3), and 
                make available for review by an applicable oversight 
                entity, any information or criteria used by the 
                Internal Revenue Service in selecting a tax return for 
                auditing.
            (2) Information required to be disclosed to the taxpayer.--
        For purposes of paragraph (1)(A):
                    (A) Returns selected based on computer modeling.--
                In the case of any tax return selected for auditing 
                based in whole or in part upon computer modeling, the 
                information disclosed to the taxpayer shall include a 
                description of any data used in such modeling which 
                was--
                            (i) provided by the taxpayer, including 
                        whether such information was filed 
                        electronically by the taxpayer or transcribed 
                        from a return which was printed and filed on 
                        paper, and
                            (ii) provided from information obtained by 
                        the Internal Revenue Service from sources other 
                        than the taxpayer.
                    (B) Returns selected other than by computer 
                modeling.--In the case of any tax return selected for 
                auditing based in whole or in part upon a method other 
                than computer modeling, the information disclosed to 
                the taxpayer shall include the method employed and any 
                data sources used by the examiner, including the 
                methodology employed by the examiner for determining 
                the validity of such sources.
                    (C) No requirement to disclose identity of another 
                taxpayer.--The Secretary is not required to disclose 
                the return information (as defined in section 6103(b) 
                of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) of any person 
                other than the taxpayer whose return has been selected 
                for audit.
            (3) Methodology for preserving information for oversight.--
        For purposes of paragraph (1)(B)--
                    (A) In general.--The Secretary shall document and 
                record how many returns are selected for auditing based 
                on--
                            (i) randomized selection,
                            (ii) scoring under the Discriminant Index 
                        Function System,
                            (iii) a determination by an Internal 
                        Revenue Service examiner,
                            (iv) any methodology not described in 
                        clauses (i) through (iii), and
                            (v) any combination of methodologies 
                        described in clauses (i) through (iv).
                    (B) Internally obtained information.--In the case 
                of any tax return which is selected for audit in whole 
                or in part based on information obtained by the 
                Internal Revenue Service from sources other than the 
                taxpayer, the Secretary shall document and record the 
                source of such information.
            (4) Definitions.--For purposes of this subsection:
                    (A) Applicable entity.--The term ``applicable 
                oversight entity'' means any entity with responsibility 
                for oversight of the activities of the Internal Revenue 
                Service, including Congress, the Treasury Inspector 
                General for Tax Administration, the Comptroller 
                General, the National Taxpayer Advocate, and the 
                Internal Revenue Service Oversight Board (as described 
                in section 7802 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986).
                    (B) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the 
                Secretary of the Treasury or such Secretary's delegate.
            (5) Effective date.--This subsection shall apply to tax 
        returns selected for audit after the date of the enactment of 
        this Act.
    (b) Termination of Research Audits.--
            (1) In general.--The Internal Revenue Service may not 
        conduct any audit, investigation, or examination of a taxpayer 
        that is primarily for the purpose of research.
            (2) Transfer of resources to prevent tax identity theft.--
                    (A) In general.--To the maximum extent possible, 
                the Commissioner of Internal Revenue shall repurpose 
                resources for the National Research Program to 
                combating tax refund fraud and identity theft.
                    (B) Report.--Not later than 6 months after the date 
                of the enactment of this Act, the Commissioner of 
                Internal Revenue shall submit to Congress a report on 
                the resources that have been repurposed pursuant to 
                subparagraph (A).
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