[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.
                                 ______