On June 13, 2019 the Senate gave final approval to the “Taxpayer First Act” (H.R. 3151), an IRS reform bill that passed the House on June 10, 2019.
The legislation had significant bipartisan support and will bring about various changes in how the IRS operates and interacts with taxpayers. The President is expected to sign the bill. (Update: President Trump signed this bill into law on July 1, 2019.)
The recent “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” (“TCJA”) brought historic comprehensive tax changes impacting individuals and businesses in all industries. One area, however, that was not included in TCJA were any reforms in how the IRS operates. Congress has been working in a bipartisan manner over the past several years to address various issues with several IRS functions and some of its internal structure. Since these IRS reform efforts did not get enacted in 2018, they were brought up again in 2019.
Earlier this year, the IRS reform bill worked through the House with bipartisan backing. While there was also broad bipartisan support in the Senate, there was an item related to a free e-filing service that was of concern to many members in both the House and Senate. This item was removed from the bill. The revised bill then passed the House and Senate by wide margins.
Two key themes in this IRS reform bill are: (1) to put taxpayers first, and (2) to bring the IRS up to the 21st century in how it operates and utilizes technology. More specifically, here are several of the key reform measures in the bill:
There are several other provisions in this IRS reform bill. Please click here for a description of this proposed legislation by the Staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) in Congress.
Please note the final bill passed by Congress did not contain: (1) the “IRS Free File Program” on Page 6 of this JCT description; and (2) the “Report on electronic payments” on Page 42.
While this IRS reform bill may not impact the tax liability of you or your business, it may soon impact how you deal with the IRS. Please contact your Sikich tax advisor with any questions.
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