[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 54 (Wednesday, April 15, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H2230-H2232]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  TAXPAYER BILL OF RIGHTS ACT OF 2015

  Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (H.R. 1058) 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, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 1058

       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,
       ``(B) the right to quality service,
       ``(C) the right to pay no more than the correct amount of 
     tax,
       ``(D) the right to challenge the position of the Internal 
     Revenue Service and be heard,
       ``(E) the right to appeal a decision of the Internal 
     Revenue Service in an independent forum,
       ``(F) the right to finality,
       ``(G) the right to privacy,
       ``(H) the right to confidentiality,
       ``(I) the right to retain representation, and
       ``(J) the right to a fair and just tax system.''.
       (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section 
     shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Wisconsin (Mr. Ryan) and the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Wisconsin.


                             General Leave

  Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their 
remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 1058, currently 
under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Wisconsin?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, today is tax day. We are bringing to the floor today a 
number of bills aimed at one thing, recognizing the fact that the IRS 
works for the taxpayer, not the other way around. It is their job in 
the Internal Revenue Service to make paying your taxes as easy as 
possible.
  This marks the day that most Americans are sending their taxes in; 
but just ask any of these Americans who probably went to the mailbox 
today if it is getting any easier, ask them if the IRS is making it 
easier for them to fill out their forms to do their civic duty. They 
will tell you that it is clearly not how the IRS is working today.
  We have learned a lot. We have conducted rigorous oversight, led by 
Mr. Roskam here, into the Internal Revenue Service, into how they 
operate. We have learned all too well that bureaucracies don't always 
do what is efficient; they do what is convenient--at least what is 
convenient for them.
  What we are doing is telling the IRS that they are going to have to 
clean up their act. We are saying that we think most of these bills are 
common sense, and we are saying that it is pretty much simple, like 
don't target people because of their political beliefs, don't tax 
donations to tax-exempt groups, don't send taxpayer information to

[[Page H2231]]

your private email--simple stuff, things that citizens should 
automatically expect from the Internal Revenue Service but have not 
been getting lately.

                              {time}  1345

  That is why we are bringing these bills to the floor. It is so that 
we can put the taxpayer in front, so that we can put the taxpayer 
first, so that we can realign the balance so that the Internal Revenue 
Service, like any other government agency, works for the taxpayer and 
not the other way around.
  I want to make one more point.
  All of this confusion, all of this unfairness, and all of this 
frustration that we are sensing and that we see on tax day is because 
our Tax Code is an absolute mess. It is way too complicated. It 
punishes people for saving; it punishes people for investing; it 
punishes people for working--all of the things that we need in order to 
build a healthy economy. It is going in the wrong direction.
  We need to make our Tax Code simpler. We need to make it fairer. We 
need to make it easier for people to comply with. We need to make it 
flatter. We need to make it more internationally competitive. We need 
to make it so that it can help our economy heal and grow more jobs. We 
think these bills are the right bills to put the taxpayers back in the 
driver's seat, to reassert their rights.
  I just want to say how proud I am of the members of our committee--of 
Mr. Roskam, of Mr. Marchant, of Mr. Meehan, of Mr. Holding, of Mr. 
Renacci, of Mr. Kelly--who all were involved in doing vigorous 
oversight of this government agency, who found problems, and who have 
acted on behalf of hard-working taxpayers to right these wrongs and to 
make sure that they don't happen again.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Roskam), the author of H.R. 1058, the 
chairman of the Oversight Committee, the person who is in charge of our 
investigation and who is a member of the Ways and Means Committee.
  Mr. ROSKAM. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, it is a very sobering thing to get a letter from the 
Internal Revenue Service and to not know what is inside. It is one 
thing if you go to the mailbox, and it is one of those ones that is a 
little bit colorful, and you say, Hey, that is a tax refund in there, 
and isn't that a delightful piece of mail? Everybody is happy to see 
that. Yet, when you get one of those other ones that is black and white 
and has all of that sort of nefarious print--and you know the kind I 
mean--it sends a chill through you.
  Now, why does it send a chill through you? It sends a chill through 
you based on sort of the past disposition of the Internal Revenue 
Service. You get this feeling of: Is this an organization--is this an 
entity?--which has unbelievable authority? Are they being fair? Are 
they treating me, as a taxpayer, the way I ought to be treated?
  The reason this becomes so important is that we have got a tax 
compliance system in the United States 99 percent of which is 
voluntary. It is a remarkable thing that 99 percent of American 
taxpayers voluntarily pay their taxes, and yet they are paying taxes 
into a system in which their confidence is shaken, and it is shaken 
grievously. It is shaken so much that, on a bipartisan basis, Mr. 
Speaker, the Ways and Means Committee reported out on a voice vote 
these things on which Republicans and Democrats have come together. 
They have said we know one thing: we know what impunity looks like when 
we see it, and we see impunity has seeped into the culture at the 
Internal Revenue Service, and on a bipartisan basis, we are going to do 
something about it. I think this deeply resonates with the American 
public.
  H.R. 1058, the Taxpayer Bill of Rights Act of 2015, has received 
input and support from Nina Olson of the National Taxpayer Advocate. 
Mr. Speaker, let me read a couple of sentences that she said about 
this.
  She says: ``A Taxpayer Bill of Rights would provide taxpayers with 
critical information to assist them in their dealings with the IRS, 
provide the IRS with foundational principles to guide employees in 
their dealings with taxpayers, and serve as a benchmark to help the IRS 
leadership and Congress monitor the extent of the agency's compliance 
with these rights.''
  In just the height of gracious understatement, she says this: ``After 
a difficult period for the IRS, a Taxpayer Bill of Rights has the 
potential to restore taxpayers' trust in both the IRS and the tax 
system.''
  Mr. Speaker, here is what the Taxpayer Bill of Rights calls for. 
These would then be enumerated rights the taxpayers would have, and 
under this legislation, it would be the responsibility of the 
Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service to make sure that these 
would be in place and that employees would be familiar with these and 
that the Internal Revenue Service would be acting in accordance with 
them. It is a list. Let me read it. It is brief, and you are going to 
love it:
  The right to be informed; the right to quality service; the right to 
pay no more tax than the correct amount of tax; the right to challenge 
the position of the Internal Revenue Service and to be heard; the right 
to appeal a decision of the Internal Revenue Service in an independent 
forum; the right to finality; the right to privacy; the right to 
confidentiality; the right to retain representation; and the right to a 
fair and just tax system.
  Mr. Speaker, we have a responsibility in Congress, and that is to 
recognize our role in this whole enterprise. Clearly, what has happened 
is the American public has delegated authority to us, their elected 
representatives. We, in turn, and some of our predecessors, have 
delegated that authority to the Internal Revenue Service. I would 
argue--and, I think, on a bipartisan basis that argument is echoed--
that that authority has been abused.
  All right. So then what is the remedy?
  The remedy is Congress comes together, as reflecting the American 
public, and it says, We are going to reclaim this. We are going to make 
this right. There is a whole series of bills today that, I think, will 
enjoy very, very strong support out of the House.
  In closing, Mr. Speaker, I want to echo the theme that Chairman Ryan 
articulated. He said that we are reminded today that the Internal 
Revenue Service works for the public. The public does not work for the 
Internal Revenue Service.
  I think that today's debate and the focus with which we on a 
bipartisan basis come to this is meant to do a couple of things. It is 
meant to restore confidence in an agency whose confidence has been 
undermined. It is meant to assert and assume a responsibility that we 
in Congress have, and it is meant to restore the confidence of the 
American people in the democratic process on an overall basis.
  I thank the chairman for his leadership in bringing these bills 
before the committee, and I urge the passage of H.R. 1058.
  Mr. LEWIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise in support of H.R. 1058.
  Today, this day, April 15, is the due date for Americans to file 
their tax returns. On this day, it is important for the House to 
consider a taxpayer bill of rights.
  This legislation would ensure that Internal Revenue Service employees 
are familiar with the rights guaranteed to taxpayers under the Internal 
Revenue Code. These include the right to be informed, the right to be 
heard, the right to privacy, the right to appeal, and the right to a 
fair and just system.

  Mr. Speaker, we must do all we can to protect taxpayers' rights. In 
addition to passing this act, Congress must ensure that the agency has 
the resources it needs to properly serve American taxpayers. This year, 
American taxpayers finally felt the shock of the billion-dollar cuts to 
the agency's budget. Taxpayers seeking assistance waited in lines for 
hours. Few could reach a live person when they called the help 
hotlines, and according to press reports--to written reports, 
television, newspapers, and magazines--in New York, the Internal 
Revenue Service office even ran out of paper to print extra tax forms 
after taxpayers waited in long lines for hours. That is not right. That 
is not fair. That is not just.
  The Taxpayer Bill of Rights Act takes an important step in the right 
direction. It is timely and it is just. I hope that we can come 
together to make sure that our constituents are receiving the services 
and the protections they deserve.

[[Page H2232]]

  Again, I thank the gentleman from Illinois and my Republican 
colleague--the chairman--and others for bringing this bill to the floor 
today.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may 
consume to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Roskam).
  Mr. ROSKAM. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to associate myself with the remarks of the 
ranking member, which are that the American public has an expectation 
that they are going to be treated with respect and with dignity. With 
that, I urge the passage of H.R. 1058.
  Mr. LEWIS. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I support H.R. 1058, the Taxpayer 
Bill of Rights Act of 2015. On this tax day, we must do more for our 
taxpayers. I urge all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to 
vote ``yes'' for H.R. 1058.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Ryan) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 1058, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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