II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5311 

To reform the resources available to the Internal Revenue Service, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 20, 2022 

Mr. PORTMAN (for himself and Mr. CARDIN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To reform the resources available to the Internal Revenue 

Service, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘IRS Customer Service 

5 and Transformation Act of 2022’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 The purpose of this Act is to address processing back8 logs with respect to income tax returns and improve tax9 payer services, including by— 


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1 (1) establishing customer service and tech2 nology modernization objectives, allowing for hiring 

3 flexibility, and providing taxpayer support; 

4 (2) modernizing information technology to ef5 fectively upgrade and integrate Internal Revenue 

6 Service systems, provide additional electronic forms 

7 and filing, and enhance digital taxpayer services; 

8 and 

9 (3) conducting research on how the Internal 

10 Revenue Service can support taxpayers, increase 

11 compliance, and increase the efficiency of Internal 

12 Revenue Service activities through the use of im13 proved methods and technology. 

14 SEC. 3. IMPROVING CUSTOMER SERVICE AND TECH15 NOLOGY AT THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERV16 ICE. 

17 (a) MULTI-YEAR OPERATIONAL PLAN.— 

18 (1) INITIAL PLAN.—Not later than 6 months 

19 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

20 Commissioner of Internal Revenue shall submit to 

21 Congress a plan detailing how the Commissioner in22 tends to meet customer service and technology mod23 ernization objectives, modernize information tech24 nology, and implement improved methods and tech25 nology to support taxpayers and increase the effiVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Jan 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5311.IS S5311

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1 ciency of Internal Revenue Service tax return and 

2 correspondence processing, including a specific 

3 timeline and detailed description of which elements 

4 of the Taxpayer First Act Report (as submitted to 

5 Congress on January 1, 2021) would be imple6 mented and the amount and source of any funding 

7 required. 

8 (2) SEMIANNUAL UPDATES.—Not later than the 

9 date that is 18 months after the date of the enact10 ment of this Act, and semiannually for the next 10 

11 years thereafter, the Commissioner of Internal Rev12 enue shall submit to Congress a report on the plan 

13 established under paragraph (1), including— 

14 (A) any updates to the plan; 

15 (B) progress made in implementing the 

16 plan; and 

17 (C) any changes in circumstances or chal18 lenges in implementing the plan. 

19 (3) REPORTS BY GOVERNMENT ACCOUNT20 ABILITY OFFICE.—For each calendar year after 

21 2022 and before 2032, the Comptroller General shall 

22 report to the Committees on Finance, Appropria23 tions, and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, and 

24 to the Committees on Ways and Means, AppropriaVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Jan 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5311.IS S5311

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1 tions, and Government Reform and Oversight of the 

2 House of Representatives, with respect to— 

3 (A) strategic and business plans for the In4 ternal Revenue Service; 

5 (B) progress of the Internal Revenue Serv6 ice in meeting its objectives; 

7 (C) the budget for the Internal Revenue 

8 Service and whether it supports its objectives; 

9 (D) progress of the Internal Revenue Serv10 ice in improving taxpayer service and compli11 ance; 

12 (E) progress of the Internal Revenue Serv13 ice on technology modernization; 

14 (F) the status and progress of processing 

15 backlogs for taxpayer returns and correspond16 ence; and 

17 (G) the status and progress of plan de18 scribed in paragraph (1). 

19 (b) CUSTOMER SERVICE AND ELECTRONIC FILING

20 REQUIREMENTS.— 

21 (1) CUSTOMER SERVICE.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than January 

23 1, 2025, the Internal Revenue Service shall, to 

24 the extent possible— 


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1 (i) with respect to level-of-service 

2 measures (including all communication 

3 channels, such as phones and secure mes4 saging) for wait-and-response times (as de5 termined based on data for the most re6 cently completed 3-year period), attain not 

7 less than 90 percent level-of-service; 

8 (ii) employ callback service on not less 

9 than 95 percent of telephone calls made by 

10 taxpayers which are not answered within 3 

11 minutes; 

12 (iii) process all taxpayer correspond13 ence not later than 45 days following the 

14 date of receipt; and 

15 (iv) develop and deploy technology for 

16 secure communication with taxpayers 

17 through e-mail, secure messaging, text 

18 messages, video teleconferencing, or other 

19 similar technologies. 

20 (B) ADJUSTMENT.— 

21 (i) IN GENERAL.—The requirements 

22 described in clauses (i) and (ii) of subpara23 graph (A) may be adjusted, as appropriate, 

24 for aberrations affecting call volume, regu25 latory and procedural accuracy, profesVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Jan 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5311.IS S5311

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1 sionalism, timeliness, and customer service 

2 satisfaction. 

3 (ii) REPORT.—In the case of any ad4 justment described in clause (i), the Com5 missioner of Internal Revenue shall submit 

6 a report to the Committee on Finance of 

7 the Senate and the Committee on Ways 

8 and Means of the House of Representa9 tives with respect to— 

10 (I) the reason that the require11 ment described in clause (i) or (ii) of 

12 subparagraph (A) was adjusted; and 

13 (II) the relevant aberration re14 quiring such adjustment. 

15 (2) ELECTRONIC FORMS AND FILING.— 

16 (A) FORMS.—Not later than January 1, 

17 2026, any forms used by the Internal Revenue 

18 Service which are made available to the public 

19 shall— 

20 (i) bear a code that, when scanned, 

21 converts such form to electronic format (or 

22 which is functionally similar or applies 

23 more up-to-date technology); 

24 (ii) allow for optical character recogni25 tion software (or functionally similar techVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Jan 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5311.IS S5311

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1 nology) to transcribe all paper returns 

2 which do not contain the technology de3 scribed in clause (i); and 

4 (iii) be permitted to be filed electroni5 cally within 90 days of release, including— 

6 (I) automated translation of such 

7 forms into other languages; and 

8 (II) establishment of secure dig9 ital signature technology. 

10 (B) DIGITIZATION OF FORMS.—Not later 

11 than January 1, 2026, Internal Revenue Serv12 ice Forms 941, 1040, 1040X, 1065, 1120, and 

13 any other such form which is identified by the 

14 Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretary’s 

15 delegate (including any successor form), shall 

16 contain the most up-to-date technology which 

17 allows for the conversion of paper-filed returns 

18 to an electronic format. 

19 SEC. 4. COUNSEL IN THE OFFICE OF THE TAXPAYER ADVO20 CATE. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7803(c)(2)(D)(i) of the 

22 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

23 (1) in subclause (I), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

24 end, 


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1 (2) in subclause (II), by striking the period at 

2 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’, and 

3 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(III) appoint counsel in the Of5 fice of the Taxpayer Advocate to re6 port directly to the National Taxpayer 

7 Advocate.’’. 

8 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to con9 form to the intent of the Internal Revenue Service Re10 structuring and Reform Act of 1998 (Public Law 105– 

11 206), as set forth in the joint explanatory statement of 

12 the committee of conference accompanying Conference Re13 port 105–599, that the National Taxpayer Advocate be 

14 able to hire and consult counsel as appropriate. 

Æ 


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