I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 295 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to prevent identity theft 

and tax fraud, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 15, 2013 

Mr. NUGENT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to prevent 

identity theft and tax fraud, 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 ‘‘Protect and Save Act 

5 of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AUTHORITY TO DISCLOSE RETURN AND RETURN IN2 FORMATION IN FEDERAL AND STATE PROS3 ECUTION LAW ENFORCEMENT. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (k) of section 6103 of 

5 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding 

6 at the end the following new paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(11) DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN RETURN IN8 FORMATION IN CONNECTION WITH IDENTITY THEFT

9 AND FRAUDULENT RETURNS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an in11 vestigation pertaining to the misuse of the iden12 tity of another person for purposes of filing a 

13 false or fraudulent return of tax, upon receipt 

14 of a written request which meets the require15 ments of subparagraph (C), the Secretary may 

16 disclose return information to officers and em17 ployees of any Federal law enforcement agency, 

18 or any officers and employees of any State or 

19 local law enforcement agency, who are person20 ally and directly engaged in the investigation of 

21 any crimes implicated in such misuse, but only 

22 if any such law enforcement agency is part of 

23 a team with the Internal Revenue Service in 

24 such investigation. 

25 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION ON USE OF INFORMA26 TION.—Information disclosed under this subVerDate Mar 15 2010 20:16 Jan 18, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H295.IH H295

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1 paragraph shall be solely for the use of such of2 ficers and employees to whom such information 

3 is disclosed in such investigation. 

4 ‘‘(C) REQUIREMENTS.—A request meets 

5 the requirements of this clause if— 

6 ‘‘(i) the request is made by the head 

7 of the agency (or his delegate) involved in 

8 such investigation, and 

9 ‘‘(ii) the request sets forth the specific 

10 reason why such disclosure may be rel11 evant to the investigation. 

12 ‘‘(D) NOTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall 

13 determine whether or not to grant the disclo14 sure request described in subparagraph (A) and 

15 notify the petitioning law enforcement agency 

16 within 30 days of receiving the request. This 

17 determination shall be expedited in instances 

18 where the crimes of murder, murder for hire, or 

19 arson are involved as certified by the requesting 

20 agency’s head.’’. 

21 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

22 (1) Paragraph (2) of section 6103(a) of such 

23 Code is amended by inserting ‘‘or (k)(11)’’ after 

24 ‘‘subsection (i)(7)(A)’’. 


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1 (2) Paragraph (4) of section 6103(p) of such 

2 Code is amended— 

3 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

4 (A) by inserting ‘‘or (11)’’ after ‘‘(k)(10)’’, and 

5 (B) in subparagraph (F)(ii) by striking ‘‘or 

6 (10)’’ and inserting ‘‘(10) or (11)’’. 

7 (3) Paragraph (2) of section 7213(a) of such 

8 Code is amended by inserting ‘‘(k)(11),’’ after 

9 ‘‘(7)(A)(ii),’’. 

10 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

11 subsection (a) shall apply to disclosures made after the 

12 date of the enactment of this Act. 

13 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in section 

14 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 may be con15 strued to prohibit Federal law enforcement officials from 

16 coordinating with State and local law enforcement agen17 cies already investigating related crimes. 

18 SEC. 3. LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT LIAISON. 

19 Section 7803 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

20 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub21 section: 

22 ‘‘(e) LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT LIAISON.— 

23 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Commissioner of 

24 Internal Revenue shall establish within the Criminal 


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1 Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Serv2 ice the position of Local Law Enforcement Liaison. 

3 ‘‘(2) DUTIES.—The Local Law Enforcement 

4 Liaison shall— 

5 ‘‘(A) coordinate the investigation of tax 

6 fraud with State and local law enforcement 

7 agencies, 

8 ‘‘(B) communicate the status of tax fraud 

9 cases involving identity theft, and 

10 ‘‘(C) carry out such other duties as dele11 gated by the Commissioner of Internal Rev12 enue.’’. 

13 SEC. 4. PIN SYSTEM FOR PREVENTION OF IDENTITY THEFT 

14 TAX FRAUD. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

16 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the 

17 Treasury (or the Secretary’s delegate) shall implement an 

18 identify theft tax fraud prevention program under which— 

19 (1) a person who has filed an identity theft affi20 davit with the Secretary may elect— 

21 (A) to be provided with a unique personal 

22 identification number to be included on any 

23 Federal tax return filed by such person, or 

24 (B) to prevent the processing of any Fed25 eral tax return submitted in an electronic forVerDate Mar 15 2010 20:16 Jan 18, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H295.IH H295

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1 mat by a person purporting to be such person, 

2 and 

3 (2) the Secretary will provide additional identity 

4 verification safeguards for the processing of any 

5 Federal tax return filed by a person described in 

6 paragraph (1) in cases where a unique personal 

7 identification number is not included on the return. 

8 SEC. 5. STUDY ON THE USE OF PREPAID DEBIT CARDS AND 

9 COMMERCIAL TAX PREPARATION SOFTWARE 

10 IN TAX FRAUD. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of the 

12 United States shall conduct a study to examine the role 

13 of prepaid debit cards and commercial tax preparation 

14 software in facilitating fraudulent tax returns through 

15 identity theft. 

16 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after the date 

17 of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 

18 submit to the Committee on Finance of the Senate and 

19 the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Rep20 resentatives a report with the results of the study con21 ducted under subsection (a), together with any rec22 ommendations. 

23 SEC. 6. STUDY ON THE USE OF E-FILING IN TAX FRAUD. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of the 

25 United States shall conduct a study to examine the role 


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1 filing tax returns electronically (e-filing) and electronic tax 

2 returns play in either facilitating or preventing fraudulent 

3 tax returns through identity theft. 

4 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after the date 

5 of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 

6 submit to the Committee on Finance of the Senate and 

7 the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Rep8 resentatives a report with the results of the study con9 ducted under subsection (a), together with any rec10 ommendations. 

11 SEC. 7. RESTRICTION ON ACCESS TO THE DEATH MASTER 

12 FILE. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce shall 

14 not disclose information contained on the Death Master 

15 File to any person with respect to any individual who has 

16 died at any time during the previous two calendar years 

17 in which the request for disclosure is made or the suc18 ceeding calendar year unless such person is certified under 

19 the program established under subsection (b). 

20 (b) CERTIFICATION PROGRAM.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce 

22 shall establish a program to certify persons who are 

23 eligible to access the information described in sub24 section (a) contained on the Death Master File. 


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1 (2) CERTIFICATION.—A person shall not be cer2 tified under the program established under para3 graph (1) unless the Secretary determines that such 

4 person has a legitimate fraud prevention interest in 

5 accessing the information described in subsection 

6 (a). 

7 (c) IMPOSITION OF PENALTY.—Any person who is 

8 certified under the program established under subsection 

9 (b), who receives information described in subsection (a), 

10 and who during the period of time described in subsection 

11 (a)— 

12 (1) discloses such information to any other per13 son, or 

14 (2) uses any such information for any purpose 

15 other than to detect or prevent fraud, 

16 shall pay a penalty of $1,000 for each such disclosure or 

17 use, but the total amount imposed under this subsection 

18 on such a person for any calendar year shall not exceed 

19 $50,000. 

20 (d) EXEMPTION FROM FREEDOM OF INFORMATION

21 ACT REQUIREMENT WITH RESPECT TO CERTAIN

22 RECORDS OF DECEASED INDIVIDUALS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Social Security Admin24 istration shall not be compelled to disclose to any 

25 person who is not certified under the program estabVerDate Mar 15 2010 20:16 Jan 18, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H295.IH H295

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1 lished under subsection (b) the information de2 scribed in subsection (a). 

3 (2) TREATMENT OF INFORMATION.—For pur4 poses of section 552 of title 5, United States Code, 

5 this section shall be considered a statute described 

6 in subsection (b)(3)(B) of such section 552. 

7 SEC. 8. EXTENSION OF AUTHORITY TO DISCLOSE CERTAIN 

8 RETURN INFORMATION TO PRISON OFFI9 CIALS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 6103(k)(10) of the Inter11 nal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking sub12 paragraph (D). 

13 (b) REPORT FROM FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRIS14 ONS.—Not later than 6 months after the date of the enact15 ment of this Act, the head of the Federal Bureau of Pris16 ons shall submit to Congress a detailed plan on how it 

17 will use the information provided from the Secretary of 

18 the Treasury under section 6103(k)(10) of the Internal 

19 Revenue Code of 1986 to reduce prison tax fraud. 

20 (c) SENSE OF HOUSE REGARDING STATE PRISON

21 AUTHORITIES.—It is the sense of the House that the 

22 heads of State agencies charged with the administration 

23 of prisons should— 

24 (1) develop plans for using the information pro25 vided by the Secretary of the Treasury under section 


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1 6103(k)(10) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

2 to reduce prison tax fraud, and 

3 (2) coordinate with the Internal Revenue Serv4 ice with respect to the use of such information. 

5 SEC. 9. TREASURY REPORT ON INFORMATION SHARING 

6 BARRIERS WITH RESPECT TO IDENTITY 

7 THEFT. 

8 (a) REVIEW.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treas10 ury (or the Secretary’s delegate) shall review wheth11 er current Federal tax laws and regulations related 

12 to the confidentiality and disclosure of return infor13 mation prevent the effective enforcement of local, 

14 State, and Federal identity theft statutes. The re15 view shall consider whether greater information 

16 sharing between the Internal Revenue Service and 

17 Federal, State and local law enforcement authorities 

18 would improve the enforcement of criminal laws at 

19 all levels of government. 

20 (2) CONSULTATION.—In conducting the review 

21 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall solicit the 

22 views of, and consult with, State and local law en23 forcement officials. Among the Federal agencies the 

24 Secretary shall consult in conducting the review are 

25 the following: 


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1 (A) The Department of Veterans Affairs. 

2 (B) The Department of Justice. 

3 (C) The United States Postal Inspection 

4 Service. 

5 (D) The Social Security Administration. 

6 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

7 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit a re8 port with the results of the review conducted under sub9 section (a), along with any legislative recommendations, 

10 to the Committee on Finance of the Senate and the Com11 mittee on Ways and Means of the House of Representa12 tives. 

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