[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 951 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 951

 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to clarify that a duty of 
the Commissioner of Internal Revenue is to ensure that Internal Revenue 
  Service employees are familiar with and act in accord with certain 
                            taxpayer rights.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 15, 2015

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to clarify that a duty of 
the Commissioner of Internal Revenue is to ensure that Internal Revenue 
  Service employees are familiar with and act in accord with certain 
                            taxpayer rights.

    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 ``Taxpayer Bill of Rights Act of 
2015''.

SEC. 2. DUTY TO ENSURE THAT IRS EMPLOYEES ARE FAMILIAR WITH AND ACT IN 
              ACCORD WITH CERTAIN TAXPAYER RIGHTS.

    (a) In General.--Section 7803(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 is amended by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (4) and by 
inserting after paragraph (2) the following new paragraph:
            ``(3) Execution of duties in accord with taxpayer rights.--
        In discharging his duties, the Commissioner shall ensure that 
        employees of the Internal Revenue Service are familiar with and 
        act in accord with taxpayer rights as afforded by other 
        provisions of this title, including--
                    ``(A) the right to be informed, as described in 
                sections 6212, 6213(b), 6402(l), 6751(a), 7521(b)(1), 
                and 7522 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and 
                sections 3501 through 3504 and 3506 of the Internal 
                Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, 
                including--
                            ``(i) reasonable access to tax forms and 
                        instruction booklets, and
                            ``(ii) written guidance and correspondence 
                        from the Internal Revenue Service that is 
                        accessible, consistent, written in plain 
                        language and easy to understand,
                    ``(B) the right to be treated fairly, 
                professionally, and courteously by the employees of the 
                Internal Revenue Service, as described in sections 
                6212(a), 6304, and 7526 of the Internal Revenue Code of 
                1986 and sections 3705(a) and 3709 of the Internal 
                Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998,
                    ``(C) the right to pay no more than the correct 
                amount of tax, as described in sections 6212, 6213(b), 
                6402, 6404(a), 6404(e), 6502, 7122, 7524, and 7526 of 
                the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and section 3506 of 
                the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform 
                Act of 1998, including the right of the taxpayer to pay 
                only the amount of tax legally due and to have all tax 
                payments applied properly by the Internal Revenue 
                Service,
                    ``(D) the right to challenge the position of the 
                Internal Revenue Service and be heard, as described in 
                sections 6212, 6213(b), 6320, 6330, and 7526 of the 
                Internal Revenue Code of 1986,
                    ``(E) the right to appeal a decision of the 
                Internal Revenue Service in an independent forum, as 
                described in sections 6159(e), 6212, 6213, 6330, 
                7122(e), 7123, 7422, 7428, 7429, and 7476 through 7479 
                of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and section 
                1001(a)(4) of the Internal Revenue Service 
                Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998,
                    ``(F) the right to finality, as described in 
                sections 6213(a), 6402, 6501, 6502, 6511, 7481, and 
                7605(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986,
                    ``(G) the right to privacy, as described in 
                sections 6320, 6330, 6331, 6334, 6335, 6337, 6340, 
                7602(e), and 7122(d)(3)(B) of such Code,
                    ``(H) the right to confidentiality, as described in 
                sections 6103, 6712, 7216, 7525, 7602(c), and 
                7803(c)(4)(A)(iv) of such Code,
                    ``(I) the right to retain representation, as 
                described in sections 7430, 7521, and 7526 of such 
                Code, and
                    ``(J) the right to a fair and just tax system that 
                does not target individual taxpayers or organizations 
                based on their beliefs, as described in sections 6159, 
                6334, 6404, 6502, 6511, 6651, 6656, 6662, 6676, 6694, 
                7122, 7526, 7803(c), and 7811 of such Code.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take 
effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
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