Congress Passes IRS Reforms Legislation

Yesterday, by unanimous consent, the Senate approved H.R. 3151, the “Taxpayer First Act of 2019.” The bill, approved earlier this week by the House on a similar voice vote, makes numerous reforms to the IRS and is expected to be signed into law by President Trump.

The Taxpayer First Act of 2019 would:

• Establish an independent office of appeals along with a right to an appeal generally available to all taxpayers.
• In the case of a designated summons, require that the IRS prove it made reasonable requests for the summoned information.
• Prohibit retention by the IRS of outside counsel to assist in taxpayer audits.

RILA is a member of the Coalition for Effective and Efficient Tax Administration (CEETA), that worked for several years to have these reforms included in the legislation.

The bill text can be found here and a section-by-section summary of the bill can be found here.

For more information on RILA’s tax policy advocacy work or to get involved, please contact Vice President, Tax Dave Koenig.