[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5311 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 5311

To reform the resources available to the Internal Revenue Service, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 20, 2022

Mr. Portman (for himself and Mr. Cardin) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To reform the resources available to the Internal Revenue Service, 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 ``IRS Customer Service and 
Transformation Act of 2022''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to address processing backlogs with 
respect to income tax returns and improve taxpayer services, including 
by--
            (1) establishing customer service and technology 
        modernization objectives, allowing for hiring flexibility, and 
        providing taxpayer support;
            (2) modernizing information technology to effectively 
        upgrade and integrate Internal Revenue Service systems, provide 
        additional electronic forms and filing, and enhance digital 
        taxpayer services; and
            (3) conducting research on how the Internal Revenue Service 
        can support taxpayers, increase compliance, and increase the 
        efficiency of Internal Revenue Service activities through the 
        use of improved methods and technology.

SEC. 3. IMPROVING CUSTOMER SERVICE AND TECHNOLOGY AT THE INTERNAL 
              REVENUE SERVICE.

    (a) Multi-Year Operational Plan.--
            (1) Initial plan.--Not later than 6 months after the date 
        of the enactment of this Act, the Commissioner of Internal 
        Revenue shall submit to Congress a plan detailing how the 
        Commissioner intends to meet customer service and technology 
        modernization objectives, modernize information technology, and 
        implement improved methods and technology to support taxpayers 
        and increase the efficiency of Internal Revenue Service tax 
        return and correspondence processing, including a specific 
        timeline and detailed description of which elements of the 
        Taxpayer First Act Report (as submitted to Congress on January 
        1, 2021) would be implemented and the amount and source of any 
        funding required.
            (2) Semiannual updates.--Not later than the date that is 18 
        months after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 
        semiannually for the next 10 years thereafter, the Commissioner 
        of Internal Revenue shall submit to Congress a report on the 
        plan established under paragraph (1), including--
                    (A) any updates to the plan;
                    (B) progress made in implementing the plan; and
                    (C) any changes in circumstances or challenges in 
                implementing the plan.
            (3) Reports by government accountability office.--For each 
        calendar year after 2022 and before 2032, the Comptroller 
        General shall report to the Committees on Finance, 
        Appropriations, and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, and to 
        the Committees on Ways and Means, Appropriations, and 
        Government Reform and Oversight of the House of 
        Representatives, with respect to--
                    (A) strategic and business plans for the Internal 
                Revenue Service;
                    (B) progress of the Internal Revenue Service in 
                meeting its objectives;
                    (C) the budget for the Internal Revenue Service and 
                whether it supports its objectives;
                    (D) progress of the Internal Revenue Service in 
                improving taxpayer service and compliance;
                    (E) progress of the Internal Revenue Service on 
                technology modernization;
                    (F) the status and progress of processing backlogs 
                for taxpayer returns and correspondence; and
                    (G) the status and progress of plan described in 
                paragraph (1).
    (b) Customer Service and Electronic Filing Requirements.--
            (1) Customer service.--
                    (A) In general.--Not later than January 1, 2025, 
                the Internal Revenue Service shall, to the extent 
                possible--
                            (i) with respect to level-of-service 
                        measures (including all communication channels, 
                        such as phones and secure messaging) for wait-
                        and-response times (as determined based on data 
                        for the most recently completed 3-year period), 
                        attain not less than 90 percent level-of-
                        service;
                            (ii) employ callback service on not less 
                        than 95 percent of telephone calls made by 
                        taxpayers which are not answered within 3 
                        minutes;
                            (iii) process all taxpayer correspondence 
                        not later than 45 days following the date of 
                        receipt; and
                            (iv) develop and deploy technology for 
                        secure communication with taxpayers through e-
                        mail, secure messaging, text messages, video 
                        teleconferencing, or other similar 
                        technologies.
                    (B) Adjustment.--
                            (i) In general.--The requirements described 
                        in clauses (i) and (ii) of subparagraph (A) may 
                        be adjusted, as appropriate, for aberrations 
                        affecting call volume, regulatory and 
                        procedural accuracy, professionalism, 
                        timeliness, and customer service satisfaction.
                            (ii) Report.--In the case of any adjustment 
                        described in clause (i), the Commissioner of 
                        Internal Revenue shall submit a report to the 
                        Committee on Finance of the Senate and the 
                        Committee on Ways and Means of the House of 
                        Representatives with respect to--
                                    (I) the reason that the requirement 
                                described in clause (i) or (ii) of 
                                subparagraph (A) was adjusted; and
                                    (II) the relevant aberration 
                                requiring such adjustment.
            (2) Electronic forms and filing.--
                    (A) Forms.--Not later than January 1, 2026, any 
                forms used by the Internal Revenue Service which are 
                made available to the public shall--
                            (i) bear a code that, when scanned, 
                        converts such form to electronic format (or 
                        which is functionally similar or applies more 
                        up-to-date technology);
                            (ii) allow for optical character 
                        recognition software (or functionally similar 
                        technology) to transcribe all paper returns 
                        which do not contain the technology described 
                        in clause (i); and
                            (iii) be permitted to be filed 
                        electronically within 90 days of release, 
                        including--
                                    (I) automated translation of such 
                                forms into other languages; and
                                    (II) establishment of secure 
                                digital signature technology.
                    (B) Digitization of forms.--Not later than January 
                1, 2026, Internal Revenue Service Forms 941, 1040, 
                1040X, 1065, 1120, and any other such form which is 
                identified by the Secretary of the Treasury or the 
                Secretary's delegate (including any successor form), 
                shall contain the most up-to-date technology which 
                allows for the conversion of paper-filed returns to an 
                electronic format.

SEC. 4. COUNSEL IN THE OFFICE OF THE TAXPAYER ADVOCATE.

    (a) In General.--Section 7803(c)(2)(D)(i) of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986 is amended--
            (1) in subclause (I), by striking ``and'' at the end,
            (2) in subclause (II), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; and'', and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                                    ``(III) appoint counsel in the 
                                Office of the Taxpayer Advocate to 
                                report directly to the National 
                                Taxpayer Advocate.''.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this section is to conform to the 
intent of the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 
1998 (Public Law 105-206), as set forth in the joint explanatory 
statement of the committee of conference accompanying Conference Report 
105-599, that the National Taxpayer Advocate be able to hire and 
consult counsel as appropriate.
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