[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 71 (Thursday, April 27, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1420-S1421]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
By Mr. THUNE (for himself and Ms. Collins):
S. 1337. A bill to temporarily prohibit the hiring of additional
Internal Revenue Service employees until a certain level of taxpayer
services have improved, and for other purposes; to the Committee on
Finance.
Mr. THUNE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of
the bill be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be
printed in the Record, as follows:
S. 1337
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 ``Increase Reliable Services
Now Act''.
SEC. 2. TEMPORARY PROHIBITION ON ADDITIONAL TAX ENFORCEMENT
PERSONNEL.
(a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provisions of
law, the Internal Revenue Service may not hire any person for
the purpose of conducting enforcement activities during the
period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act and
ending on the first date after such date on which--
(1) the Internal Revenue Service has maintained, for 6
consecutive months--
(A) a level of access for accounts management phone lines
of not less than 90 percent; and
(B) an average speed of answering enterprise-wide calls in
4 minutes or less; and
(2) not less than 90 percent of the regular employees of
the Internal Revenue Service perform work in person at their
job sites.
(b) Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
(1) Enforcement activities.--The term ``enforcement
activities'' means activities described in section
10301(a)(1)(A)(ii) of Public Law 117-169.
(2) Level of access.--The term ``level of access'' means a
telephone performance measure that reflects overall taxpayer
call demand and Internal Revenue Service assistance and is
calculated by dividing--
(A) the sum of assistor calls answered and the automated
calls answered; by
(B) the total dialed number attempts (not including any
dialed number attempts after hours).
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON USE OF ADDITIONAL INTERNAL REVENUE
SERVICE FUNDS FOR TAXPAYER AUDITS.
Section 10301(a)(1)((A)(ii) of Public Law 117-169 is
amended by inserting before the period at the end the
following: ``: Provided further, That the Internal Revenue
Service shall not audit taxpayers with taxable incomes below
$400,000 at a greater rate than such taxpayers were audited
for the most recent taxable year beginning before the date of
the enactment of this Act''.
SEC. 4. TEMPORARY PROHIBITION ON INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE
HIRING.
(a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provisions of
law, the Internal Revenue Service may not hire any person
(other than for activities related to return processing and
call center operations) during the period beginning on the
date of the enactment of this Act and ending on the first
date after such date on which the Internal Revenue Service
meets the requirements of subsection (b).
(b) Requirements.--The requirements specified in this
subsection are the following:
(1) With respect to the completion of processing original
and amended tax returns, the completion of processing
suspended tax returns, and the resolution of accounts
management cases, the Internal Revenue Service has an
aggregate inventory not in excess of 5,000,000 items as of
the close of any calendar quarter.
(2) With respect to tax returns eligible for a refund,
refunds are issued to taxpayers on average within six weeks
or less of the receipt of the return.
SEC. 5. REPORTS.
(a) In General.--Not later than 7 days after the last day
of each calendar quarter beginning during the applicable
period, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, in consultation
with the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration,
shall submit to the appropriate Congressional committees
report on--
(1) the level of access for accounts management phone lines
for each month during such calendar quarter;
(2) the average speed of answering enterprise-wide calls
for each month during such calendar quarter;
(3) the percentage of regular employees of the Internal
Revenue Service that perform work in person at their job
sites during such calendar quarter;
(4) the aggregate inventory of unprocessed original and
amended tax returns, unprocessed suspended tax returns, and
unresolved
[[Page S1421]]
accounts management cases as of the last day of the calendar
quarter; and
(5) with respect to tax returns eligible for a refund, the
average length of time between receipt of a tax return and
the issuance of a refund.
(b) Applicable Period.--For purposes of this section, the
term ``applicable period'' means the period beginning with
the first calendar quarter beginning after the date of the
enactment of this Act and ending with the first calendar
quarter in which the Internal Revenue Service--
(1) has met the requirements under paragraphs (1) and (2)
of section 2(a); and
(2) has met the requirements of section 4(b).
(c) Appropriate Congressional Committees.--For purposes of
this section, the term ``appropriate Congressional
committees'' means--
(1) the Committee on Finance of the Senate;
(2) the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate;
(3) the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of
Representatives; and
(4) the Committee on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives.
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