Summary
# IRS Funding Accountability Act - Plain English Summary
## WHAT THIS BILL DOES
This bill requires the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to create detailed spending plans for money it receives and submit them to Congress. Congress can reject these plans, which would delay the IRS from using the money. The IRS and Treasury Department must also submit quarterly reports showing how they are spending the funds. (Sec. 1, 2, 3)
## WHO IT AFFECTS
The Internal Revenue Service and the Department of the Treasury are directly affected by these reporting and planning requirements. Congress receives the spending plans and reports. Taxpayers may be indirectly affected by how the IRS spends this money on services and enforcement.
## KEY PROVISIONS
* The IRS cannot spend most of the new funding until it submits a comprehensive spending plan to Congress within 60 days of the bill becoming law. Congress has 60 days to reject the plan. (Sec. 2(a)(1))
* Each spending plan must include detailed information about how the money will be spent, specific goals and timelines, performance data on phone wait times and mail backlogs, and analysis of tax audits by income group. (Sec. 2(b)(2))
* The Treasury Secretary and IRS Commissioner must testify in person before Congress within 30 days after submitting each spending plan if Congress requests it. (Sec. 2(b)(3))
* The IRS must submit quarterly reports (every three months) describing what actions it took with the new funding, who was hired, and violations of fair collection practices. (Sec. 3(a))
* The Department of Treasury must submit quarterly reports describing its use of new funding and any changes to its tax guidance plans. (Sec. 3(b))
## WHAT CHANGES
If this bill becomes law, the IRS will face a 60-day delay before spending most of its new funding while Congress reviews the spending plan. The IRS and Treasury must create annual spending plans and quarterly reports that did not previously exist. Congress gains the ability to reject spending plans, which would trigger additional delays and require new plans to be submitted. The IRS loses funding if it fails to submit required reports on time. (Sec. 2(a), 3(a)(3), 3(b)(2))
## IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS
* **Appropriate Congressional committees**: The Senate Finance Committee, Senate Appropriations Committee, House Ways and Means Committee, and House Appropriations Committee. (Sec. 4)
* **Applicable period**: The time starting after the first spending plan is required to be submitted and ending September 30, 2031. (Sec. 3(c)(1))
* **Joint resolution of disapproval**: A formal congressional action rejecting an IRS spending plan, introduced within 60 days of the plan being submitted. (Sec. 2(c)(1))
## EFFECTIVE DATE
Not specified in bill text
I
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 888
To provide accountability for funding provided to the Internal Revenue Service
and the Department of the Treasury under Public Law 117–169.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 9, 2023
Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mr. FEENSTRA, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr.
SMUCKER, and Mr. ESTES) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the
Committee on Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by the
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To provide accountability for funding provided to the Internal
Revenue Service and the Department of the Treasury
under Public Law 117–169.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘IRS Funding Account-
4
ability Act’’.
5
VerDate Sep 11 2014
06:20 Mar 09, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H888.IH
H888
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
2
•HR 888 IH
SEC. 2. ANNUAL COMPREHENSIVE SPENDING PLAN FOR IN-
1
CREASED INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE RE-
2
SOURCES.
3
(a) LIMITATION ON FUNDING.—
4
(1) INITIAL PLAN.—
5
(A) IN GENERAL.—None of the funds de-
6
scribed in paragraph (3) may be obligated dur-
7
ing the period—
8
(i) beginning on the date of the enact-
9
ment of this Act; and
10
(ii) ending on the date that is 60 days
11
after the spending plan described in sub-
12
section (b)(1)(A) has been submitted.
13
(B) ADDITIONAL
MORATORIUM.—If Con-
14
gress enacts a joint resolution of disapproval
15
described in subsection (c) with respect to the
16
Internal Revenue Service spending plan before
17
the date described in subparagraph (A)(ii),
18
then—
19
(i) the Commissioner of Internal Rev-
20
enue shall submit a new spending plan
21
under subsection (b)(1)(A); and
22
(ii) the period described in subpara-
23
graph (A) shall not end before the date
24
that is 60 days after such new spending
25
plan is submitted.
26
VerDate Sep 11 2014
06:20 Mar 09, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H888.IH
H888
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
3
•HR 888 IH
(2) SUBSEQUENT SUBMISSIONS.—
1
(A) IN GENERAL.—None of the funds de-
2
scribed in paragraph (3) may be obligated dur-
3
ing any period—
4
(i) beginning on the date Congress
5
has enacted a joint resolution of dis-
6
approval under subsection (c) with respect
7
to any spending plan described in sub-
8
section (b)(1)(B); and
9
(ii) ending on the date that is 60 days
10
after the date on which the Commissioner
11
of Internal Revenue has submitted a new
12
spending plan under such subsection.
13
(B) ADDITIONAL
MORATORIUM.—If Con-
14
gress enacts a joint resolution of disapproval
15
described in subsection (c) with respect to any
16
new spending plan submitted under subpara-
17
graph (A)(ii) before the date that is 60 days
18
after the date on which such new spending plan
19
has been submitted, then—
20
(i) the Commissioner of Internal Rev-
21
enue shall submit an additional new spend-
22
ing plan under subsection (b)(1)(B); and
23
(ii) the period described in subpara-
24
graph (A) shall not end before the date
25
VerDate Sep 11 2014
06:20 Mar 09, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H888.IH
H888
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
4
•HR 888 IH
that is 60 days after such additional new
1
spending plan is submitted.
2
(3) FUNDS DESCRIBED.—The funds described
3
in this paragraph are the following:
4
(A) Any funds made available under clause
5
(ii), (iii), or (iv) of section 10301(1)(A) of Pub-
6
lic Law 117–169.
7
(B) Any funds made available under sec-
8
tion 10301(1)(A)(i) of Public Law 117–169
9
other than funds used for the following pur-
10
poses:
11
(i) Eliminating any correspondence or
12
return processing backlog.
13
(ii) Reducing call wait times for tax-
14
payers and tax professionals.
15
(b) ANNUAL COMPREHENSIVE SPENDING PLAN.—
16
(1) IN GENERAL.—
17
(A) INITIAL
PLAN.—Not later than 60
18
days after the date of the enactment of this
19
Act, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue
20
shall submit to the appropriate Congressional
21
committees a spending plan described in para-
22
graph (2).
23
(B) SUBSEQUENT SUBMISSIONS.—
24
VerDate Sep 11 2014
06:20 Mar 09, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H888.IH
H888
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
5
•HR 888 IH
(i) IN GENERAL.—For each fiscal year
1
beginning after the plan described in sub-
2
paragraph (A) is submitted and ending
3
with fiscal year 2031, the Commissioner of
4
Internal Revenue shall submit to the ap-
5
propriate
Congressional
committees
a
6
spending plan described in paragraph (2)
7
on the date that the President submits the
8
budget required under section 1105(a) of
9
title 31, United States Code.
10
(ii) REDUCTION IN APPROPRIATION.—
11
(I) IN GENERAL.—In the case of
12
any failure to submit a plan required
13
under clause (i) by the date that is 7
14
days after the date the plan is re-
15
quired to be submitted and, the
16
amounts made available under section
17
10301(1)(A)(ii) of Public Law 117–
18
169 shall be reduced by $10,000,000
19
for each day after such required date
20
that report has not been submitted.
21
(II) REQUIRED DATE.—For pur-
22
poses of this clause, the term ‘‘re-
23
quired date’’ means, with respect to
24
any plan required under this subpara-
25
VerDate Sep 11 2014
06:20 Mar 09, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H888.IH
H888
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
6
•HR 888 IH
graph, the date that is 7 days after
1
such plan is required to be submitted.
2
(2) SPENDING PLAN.—
3
(A) IN
GENERAL.—A spending plan de-
4
scribed in this subparagraph is a plan that—
5
(i) details how the funds appropriated
6
under section 10301(1) of Public Law
7
117–169 will be spent over—
8
(I) the period consisting of the
9
current fiscal year and the next 4 fis-
10
cal years ending before fiscal year
11
2032; and
12
(II) the period consisting of the
13
current fiscal year through the fiscal
14
year ending with fiscal year 2031 (if
15
such period includes any period not
16
described in subclause (I));
17
(ii) contains the information described
18
in subparagraph (B);
19
(iii) has been reviewed by—
20
(I) the Internal Revenue Service
21
Advisory Council;
22
(II)
the
Comptroller
of
the
23
United States;
24
VerDate Sep 11 2014
06:20 Mar 09, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H888.IH
H888
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
7
•HR 888 IH
(III) the National Taxpayer Ad-
1
vocate; and
2
(IV) the Director of the Office of
3
Management and Budget; and
4
(iv) has been approved by the Director
5
of the Office of Management and Budget.
6
(B) PLAN
CONTENTS.—The information
7
described in this paragraph is the following:
8
(i) A detailed explanation of the plan,
9
including—
10
(I) costs and results to date, ac-
11
tual expenditures of the prior fiscal
12
year, actual and expected expenditures
13
of the current fiscal year, upcoming
14
deliverables and expected costs, and
15
total expenditures;
16
(II) clearly defined objectives,
17
timelines, and metrics for quan-
18
titatively measuring the plan’s annual
19
progress, including with respect to
20
measuring improvements in taxpayer
21
services, revenue collection, informa-
22
tion technology, cybersecurity, and
23
taxpayer data protections; and
24
VerDate Sep 11 2014
06:20 Mar 09, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H888.IH
H888
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
8
•HR 888 IH
(III) a description of any dif-
1
ferences between metrics described in
2
subclause
(II)
and
corresponding
3
metrics used by the National Tax-
4
payer Advocate, the Comptroller Gen-
5
eral of the United States, and the
6
Treasury Inspector General for Tax
7
Administration.
8
(ii) A detailed analysis of the perform-
9
ance of the Internal Revenue Service with
10
respect to the delivery of taxpayer services,
11
including—
12
(I) the Level of Service (LOS) of
13
phone lines (as a percent of phone
14
calls answered by an Internal Revenue
15
Service employee, not to include cour-
16
tesy disconnects or automated call
17
backs);
18
(II) the median and average wait
19
time to speak to a representative of
20
the Internal Revenue Service;
21
(III) the amount of unprocessed
22
taxpayer
correspondence,
including
23
tax returns, responses to Internal
24
Revenue Service notices, tax pay-
25
VerDate Sep 11 2014
06:20 Mar 09, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H888.IH
H888
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
9
•HR 888 IH
ments, and other similar types of cor-
1
respondence; and
2
(IV) the median and average
3
length of time for processing the
4
items described in subclause (III) and
5
processing refund claims.
6
(iii) An analysis identifying any in-
7
crease or decrease in total annual audits
8
and annual audit rates by income group
9
for the period beginning in 2018 and end-
10
ing with the year the report is submitted.
11
Such analysis shall include a detailed de-
12
scription of what constitutes an ‘‘audit’’ by
13
the Internal Revenue Service, and if the
14
definition of an ‘‘audit’’ used by the Inter-
15
nal Revenue Service differs from the defi-
16
nition used by the National Taxpayer Ad-
17
vocate, the Comptroller General of the
18
United States, or the Treasury Inspector
19
General for Tax Administration, there
20
shall also be included an analysis using
21
such divergent definition.
22
(iv) A categorizing of the number of
23
audits for each year in the analysis de-
24
scribed in clause (iv) which were—
25
VerDate Sep 11 2014
06:20 Mar 09, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H888.IH
H888
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
10
•HR 888 IH
(I) correspondence audits;
1
(II) office audits;
2
(III) field audits;
3
(IV) audits under the Internal
4
Revenue Service National Research
5
Program; and
6
(V) other audits.
7
(v) A description of all taxpayer com-
8
pliance actions or initiatives undertaken
9
using funding appropriated under section
10
10301(1)(A) of Public Law 117–169 that
11
do not rise to the level of an audit, with
12
each action broken out by the total number
13
of such actions undertaken for each income
14
group and as a percentage of taxpayers in
15
each income group.
16
(vi) An explanation of any unresolved
17
or outstanding recommendations made by
18
the Government Accountability Office and
19
the Treasury Inspector General for Tax
20
Administration pertaining to taxpayer-data
21
privacy protections, Internal Revenue Serv-
22
ice taxpayer services, and Internal Revenue
23
Service technology modernization efforts
24
VerDate Sep 11 2014
06:20 Mar 09, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00010
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H888.IH
H888
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
11
•HR 888 IH
that are addressed by the plan and a de-
1
scription of how they are addressed.
2
(vii) For any recommendations identi-
3
fied by the Government Accountability Of-
4
fice and the Treasury Inspector General
5
for Tax Administration as ‘‘high risk’’ or
6
‘‘priority’’ that are not addressed in the
7
plan, an explanation of why such rec-
8
ommendations are not addressed in the
9
plan.
10
(3) TESTIMONY OF RELEVANT OFFICIALS.—Not
11
later than 30 days after any spending plan described
12
in paragraph (2) has been submitted, the Secretary
13
of the Treasury and the Commissioner of Internal
14
Revenue shall testify in person before any of the ap-
15
propriate Congressional committees that request
16
their testimony with respect to such spending plan.
17
(4) REQUIREMENT
TO
NOTIFY
OF
EXCESS
18
SPENDING.—The Commissioner of Internal Revenue
19
shall immediately notify the appropriate Congres-
20
sional committees if actual obligations and expendi-
21
tures for any account for any period for which pro-
22
jections are made in a plan submitted under para-
23
graph (2) exceed the amount of obligations and ex-
24
VerDate Sep 11 2014
06:20 Mar 09, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00011
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H888.IH
H888
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
12
•HR 888 IH
penditures projected for such account in such plan
1
by 5 percent or more.
2
(c) JOINT RESOLUTION OF DISAPPROVAL OF THE
3
IRS COMPREHENSIVE SPENDING PLAN.—
4
(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this section,
5
the term ‘‘joint resolution of disapproval of the IRS
6
comprehensive spending plan’’ means only a joint
7
resolution introduced in the period beginning on the
8
date on which a spending plan submitted pursuant
9
to subsection (b)(1)(A) is received by the appro-
10
priate Congressional committees and ending 60 days
11
thereafter (excluding days either House of Congress
12
is adjourned for more than 3 days during a session
13
of Congress), the matter after the resolving clause of
14
which is as follows: ‘‘That Congress disapproves the
15
plan submitted on llll by the Internal Rev-
16
enue Service relating to the comprehensive spending
17
plan under section 2(b)(1) of the IRS Funding Ac-
18
countability Act with respect to fiscal year lll.’’.
19
(The blank spaces being appropriately filled in).
20
(2) APPLICATION OF CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW
21
ACT DISAPPROVAL PROCEDURES.—
22
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The rules of section
23
802 of title 5, United States Code, shall apply
24
to a joint resolution of disapproval of the IRS
25
VerDate Sep 11 2014
06:20 Mar 09, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00012
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H888.IH
H888
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
13
•HR 888 IH
comprehensive spending plan in the same man-
1
ner as such rules apply to a joint resolution de-
2
scribed in subsection (a) of such section.
3
(B) EXERCISE OF RULEMAKING AUTHOR-
4
ITY.—This section is enacted by Congress—
5
(i) as an exercise of the rulemaking
6
power of the Senate and House of Rep-
7
resentatives, respectively, and as such it is
8
deemed a part of the rules of each House,
9
respectively, but applicable only with re-
10
spect to the procedure to be followed in
11
that House in the case of a joint resolution
12
of disapproval of the IRS comprehensive
13
spending plan described in paragraph (1),
14
and it supersedes other rules only to the
15
extent that it is inconsistent with such
16
rules; and
17
(ii) with full recognition of the con-
18
stitutional right of either House to change
19
the rules (so far as relating to the proce-
20
dure of that House) at any time, in the
21
same manner, and to the same extent as in
22
the case of any other rule of that House.
23
SEC. 3. QUARTERLY REPORTS.
24
(a) INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE.—
25
VerDate Sep 11 2014
[Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]