[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4549 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4549

   To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to require additional 
            information on math and clerical error notices.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 13, 2024

Ms. Warren (for herself and Mr. Cassidy) 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 require additional 
            information on math and clerical error notices.

    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 ``Internal Revenue Service Math and 
Taxpayer Help Act of 2024'' or the ``IRS MATH Act of 2024''.

SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENT OF NOTICES OF MATH OR CLERICAL ERROR.

    (a) In General.--Section 6213(b)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 is amended--
            (1) by striking ``errors.--If the taxpayer'' and inserting 
        ``errors.--
                    ``(A) In general.--If the taxpayer'',
            (2) by striking ``Each notice'' in the second sentence and 
        inserting ``Subject to subparagraph (B), each notice'', and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
                    ``(B) Specificity of math or clerical error 
                notice.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The notice provided 
                        under subparagraph (A) shall--
                                    ``(I) be sent to the taxpayer's 
                                last known address,
                                    ``(II) describe the mathematical or 
                                clerical error in comprehensive, plain 
                                language, including--
                                            ``(aa) the type of error,
                                            ``(bb) the section of this 
                                        title to which the error 
                                        relates,
                                            ``(cc) a description of the 
                                        nature of the error, and
                                            ``(dd) the specific line of 
                                        the return on which the error 
                                        was made,
                                    ``(III) an itemized computation of 
                                any direct or incidental adjustments to 
                                be made to the return in correction of 
                                the error, including any adjustment to 
                                the amount of--
                                            ``(aa) adjusted gross 
                                        income,
                                            ``(bb) taxable income,
                                            ``(cc) itemized or standard 
                                        deductions,
                                            ``(dd) nonrefundable 
                                        credits,
                                            ``(ee) credits under 
                                        section 24, 25A, 32, 35, or 
                                        36B, credits claimed with 
                                        respect to undistributed long-
                                        term capital gains on Form 
                                        2439, credits for Federal taxes 
                                        paid on fuels claimed on Form 
                                        4136, and any other refundable 
                                        credits,
                                            ``(ff) income tax,
                                            ``(gg) other taxes,
                                            ``(hh) total tax,
                                            ``(ii) Federal income tax 
                                        withheld or excess tax withheld 
                                        under section 3101 or 3201(a),
                                            ``(jj) estimated tax 
                                        payments, including amount 
                                        applied from prior year's 
                                        return,
                                            ``(kk) refund or amount 
                                        owed,
                                            ``(ll) net operating loss 
                                        carryforwards, or
                                            ``(mm) credit 
                                        carryforwards,
                                    ``(IV) include the telephone number 
                                for the automated phone transcript 
                                service, and
                                    ``(V) display the date by which the 
                                taxpayer may request to abate any 
                                assessment specified in such notice 
                                pursuant to paragraph (2)(A), in bold, 
                                font size 14, and immediately next to 
                                the taxpayer's address on page 1 of the 
                                notice.
                            ``(ii) No lists of potential errors.--A 
                        notice which provides multiple potential or 
                        alternative errors which may be applicable to 
                        the return shall not be sufficiently specific 
                        for purposes of clause (i)(II); however, if 
                        multiple specific errors apply to the return 
                        all such errors should be listed.''.
    (b) Notice of Abatement.--Paragraph (2) of section 6213(b) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
                    ``(C) Notice.--Upon determination of an abatement 
                pursuant to subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall send 
                notice to the taxpayer of such abatement which--
                            ``(i) is sent to the taxpayer's last known 
                        address,
                            ``(ii) describes the abatement in 
                        comprehensive, plain language, and
                            ``(iii) provides an itemized computation of 
                        any adjustments to be made to the items 
                        described in the notice of mathematical or 
                        clerical error, including any changes to any 
                        item described in paragraph (1)(B)(i)(III).''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to notices sent after the date which is 12 months after the date 
of the enactment of this Act.
    (d) Procedures.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury (or such 
Secretary's delegate) shall provide for procedures by which a taxpayer 
may request an abatement pursuant to section 6213(b)(1)(B)(i)(V) of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 in writing, electronically, by telephone, 
or in person.
    (e) Pilot Program.--Not later than 18 months after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury (or such 
Secretary's delegate), in consultation with the National Taxpayer 
Advocate, shall--
            (1) implement a pilot program to send a trial number of 
        notices, in an amount which is a statistically significant 
        portion of all such notices, of mathematical or clerical error 
        pursuant to section 6213(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
        1986 by certified or registered mail with e-signature 
        confirmation of receipt, and
            (2) report to Congress, aggregated by the type of error 
        under section 6213(g) of such Code to which the notices relate, 
        on--
                    (A) the number of mathematical or clerical errors 
                noticed under the program and the dollar amounts 
                involved,
                    (B) the number of abatements of tax and the dollar 
                amounts of such abatements, and
                    (C) the effect of such pilot program on taxpayer 
                response and adjustments or abatements to tax,
        with conclusions drawn about the effectiveness of certified 
        mail, with and without return receipt, and any other 
        recommendations for improving taxpayer response rates.
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