Protect Taxpayers’ Privacy Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2222 To amend title 5, United States Code, to lower the standard for removing employees who disclose tax return information without authorization, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 24, 2021 Mr. BRAUN (for himself and Mr. CRUZ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To amend title 5, United States Code, to lower the standard for removing employees who disclose tax return informa- tion without authorization, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Protect Taxpayers’ 4 Privacy Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:25 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2222.IS S2222 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2222 IS SEC. 2. INCREASE OF PENALTY FOR UNAUTHORIZED DIS- 1 CLOSURE OF TAXPAYER INFORMATION. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) of section 7213(a) 3 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by strik- 4 ing ‘‘$5,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$250,000’’. 5 (b) DISCLOSURES BY TAX RETURN PREPARERS.— 6 Subsection (a) of section 7216 of the Internal Revenue 7 Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘$1,000 ($100,000 8 in the case of a disclosure or use to which section 6713(b) 9 applies)’’ and inserting ‘‘$250,000’’. 10 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 11 this section shall apply to disclosures made on or after 12 the date of the enactment of this Act. 13 SEC. 3. REMOVAL. 14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7701(c)(1)(A) of title 5, 15 United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘or in the 16 case of an action involving a removal from the service for 17 an alleged violation of section 7213(a)(1) of the Internal 18 Revenue Code of 1986,’’ after ‘‘described in section 19 4303,’’. 20 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The amendments 21 made by subsection (a) may not be construed to permit 22 an officer or employee of the United States to submit an 23 appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board if that indi- 24 vidual is dismissed from office or discharged from employ- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:25 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2222.IS S2222 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2222 IS ment upon conviction for a violation of section 7213(a)(1) 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:25 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2222.IS S2222 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS