Congressional Record, Volume 171 Issue 57 (Monday, March 31, 2025)

[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 57 (Monday, March 31, 2025)]
[House]
[Pages H1349-H1351]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

NATIONAL TAXPAYER ADVOCATE ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2025

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
pass the bill (H.R. 997) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to
conform to the intent of the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and
Reform Act of 1998, 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, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:

H.R. 997

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 ``National Taxpayer Advocate
Enhancement Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. AUTHORITY OF TAXPAYER ADVOCATE TO APPOINT COUNSEL.

(a) In General.--Section 7803(c)(2)(D)(i) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended

[[Page H1350]]

by striking ``and'' at the end of subclause (I), by
redesignating subclause (II) as subclause (III), and by
inserting after subclause (I) the following new subclause:

``(II) appoint counsel in the Office of the Taxpayer
Advocate to report directly to the National Taxpayer
Advocate, or delegate thereof; and''.

(b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 7803(c)(2)(D)(i)(III) of
such Code, as redesignated by subsection (a), is amended by
striking ``any employee of any local office of a taxpayer
advocate described in subclause (I)'' and inserting ``any
employee of the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section
shall take effect as if included in the enactment of section
1102 of the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform
Act of 1998.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Missouri (Mr. Smith) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Missouri.

General Leave

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks
and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Missouri?
There was no objection.
Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 997, the National
Taxpayer Advocate Enhancement Act, introduced by my Committee on Ways
and Means colleagues, Representatives Feenstra and Davis.
The National Taxpayer Advocate exists to promote and defend the
rights of American taxpayers. In order to achieve these goals, not only
should the advocate be independent from the IRS, but the staff
assisting the advocate should be as well.
Yet, right now, the attorneys hired to assist the National Taxpayer
Advocate report to IRS legal counsel, are accountable to IRS legal
counsel, and answer to IRS legal counsel, not the National Taxpayer
Advocate.
It is a situation that begs for conflicts of interest to occur. It
risks undermining the ability of the National Taxpayer Advocate to
trust that the legal advice that she receives is without any undue
influence from the IRS. It certainly undermines the ability of the
American taxpayer to have faith that the National Taxpayer Advocate's
service is adhering to its mission.
The National Taxpayer Advocate Enhancement Act gives the NTA the
authority to hire her own lawyers, who will report directly to her,
rather than be accountable to the IRS, the very agency whose behavior
the advocate exists to scrutinize and defend against.
The American people have a well-founded fear of the IRS given its
dismal track record of violating the rights of taxpayers. The very
least we can do is ensure that an entity that exists to fight on behalf
of taxpayers actually has a clearly defined and reinforced independence
from the IRS.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Representatives Feenstra and Davis for their
bipartisan leadership on this issue and advocating for the rights of
the American taxpayers, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 997, the National Taxpayer
Advocate Enhancement Act. I am pleased to lead this bill with my
colleague, Representative Feenstra from Iowa.
The National Taxpayer Advocate is the independent advocate working to
assist taxpayers. I am deeply grateful to her and her team for their
outstanding work to identify tax policy improvements, to help taxpayers
at large, and for their work to help individual taxpayers when they
need assistance with a specific problem.
The bill makes a small but important statutory clarification that the
National Taxpayer Advocate may appoint and supervise her own legal
counsel, rather than only using attorneys that report to the IRS chief
counsel.
Being able to appoint independent counsel is an essential step to
preserving the independence of the National Taxpayer Advocate Office,
as required under section 7803(c) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Given her independent role, the National Taxpayer Advocate often
takes positions contrary to the positions of the IRS and the Office of
Chief Counsel. As a result, the National Taxpayer Advocate needs her
own independent counsel to advise and adopt legal positions so that she
can effectively advocate for taxpayers and to advise Congress.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that the committee is marking up the
National Taxpayer Advocate Enhancement Act today to protect the
independence of the National Taxpayer Advocate, and I hope that this
bipartisan effort will extend to dealing with the threat of data
privacy that the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service currently are
experiencing.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may
consume to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Feenstra), the sponsor of this
legislation.
Mr. FEENSTRA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding me time.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of my bill, the National
Taxpayer Advocate Enhancement Act. I thank my colleague, the gentleman
from Illinois (Mr. Davis), for working with me on this initiative.
Since 2015, the IRS has prohibited the National Taxpayer Advocate
from hiring her own legal counsel, which undermines her ability to
provide insight, ensure fair treatment of taxpayers, and responsibly
work with the IRS caseworkers.
American taxpayers expect and deserve the best customer service and
case outcomes when filing their Federal taxes.

{time} 1700

However, this outdated restriction on the National Taxpayer Advocate
prevents her from hiring the team she needs to do her job.
My bill clarifies it is within the purview of the National Taxpayer
Advocate to hire attorneys that report specifically to her. These
attorneys help conduct oversight, ensure taxpayers are being treated
fairly, and inform Congress of taxpayer challenges at the IRS.
This measure ensures we keep politics out of the IRS and solely focus
on outcomes for the taxpayer.
With this improvement, American families will benefit from fewer
headaches when dealing with the IRS and a more accountable government.
This bill itself is a recommendation from the National Taxpayer
Advocate Purple Book and has been a recommended policy change for quite
a few years.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Smith, again, for working with me to
make the IRS run smoother and to ensure taxpayers are being treated
fairly.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 997 is a commonsense,
bipartisan piece of legislation and is the product of a recommendation
made by the Taxpayer Advocate. Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I urge its
passage, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I imagine the American people
would be surprised and no doubt disappointed to learn that the very
organization whose mission it is to advocate on behalf of taxpayers
relies on legal advice provided by attorneys who are employed by, and
answer to, the IRS. It is a bizarre arrangement to be sure.
The National Taxpayer Advocate Enhancement Act will ensure that the
attorneys serving the NTA are hired by her and accountable to her. This
will also allow the Advocate's office to promote attorneys from within
that organization, helping to retain their talent, experience, and
expertise.
Mr. Speaker, the Ways and Means Committee approved this legislation
with unanimous consent, and I encourage my colleagues on both sides of
the aisle in the House to do the same.
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 Missouri (Mr. Smith) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 997, as amended.

[[Page H1351]]

The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and
nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.

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