I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2398 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permit the Secretary of 

the Treasury and the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration 

to disclose certain return information related to identity theft, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 18, 2015 

Mr. GROTHMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, 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 amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permit 

the Secretary of the Treasury and the Commissioner 

of the Social Security Administration to disclose certain 

return information related to identity theft, 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 ‘‘Social Security Iden5 tity Defense Act of 2015’’. 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 2398 IH

1 SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN RETURN INFORMATION 

2 WITH RESPECT TO IDENTITY THEFT. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (l) of section 6103 of 

4 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding 

5 at the end the following new paragraph: 

6 ‘‘(23) DISCLOSURE OF RETURN INFORMATION

7 IN CERTAIN CASES OF IDENTITY THEFT.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary has 

9 reason to believe that there has been a fraudu10 lent use of a social security account number on 

11 a statement described in section 6051— 

12 ‘‘(i) the Secretary shall disclose to the 

13 individual who was validly assigned such 

14 social security account number— 

15 ‘‘(I) that the Secretary has rea16 son to believe that the social security 

17 account number assigned to such indi18 vidual has been fraudulently used in 

19 the employment context, 

20 ‘‘(II) that the Secretary has 

21 made the disclosure described in 

22 clause (ii) to the Director of the Fed23 eral Bureau of Investigation and the 

24 Attorney General with respect to such 

25 fraudulent use, and 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 2398 IH

1 ‘‘(III) such other information 

2 (other than return information) as the 

3 Secretary determines, in consultation 

4 with Federal Trade Commission, 

5 would be helpful and appropriate to 

6 provide to a victim of identity theft, 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(ii) the Secretary shall disclose to the 

9 Director of the Federal Bureau of Inves10 tigation and the Attorney General— 

11 ‘‘(I) such social security account 

12 number, 

13 ‘‘(II) that the Secretary has rea14 son to believe that such social security 

15 account number has been fraudulently 

16 used in the employment context, and 

17 ‘‘(III) the taxpayer identity infor18 mation of the individual who was as19 signed such social security account 

20 number, the individual believed to 

21 have fraudulently used such social se22 curity account number, and the em23 ployer who made the statement de24 scribed in section 6051 which included 

25 such social security account number. 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 2398 IH

1 ‘‘(B) RESTRICTION ON DISCLOSURE TO

2 LAW ENFORCEMENT.— 

3 ‘‘(i) DISCLOSURE TO OTHER LAW EN4 FORCEMENT OFFICIALS.—The Director of 

5 the Federal Bureau of Investigation and 

6 the Attorney General may disclose infor7 mation received under subparagraph 

8 (A)(ii) to appropriate Federal, State, and 

9 local law enforcement officials. 

10 ‘‘(ii) RESTRICTION ON USE OF DIS11 CLOSED INFORMATION.—Return informa12 tion disclosed under subparagraph (A)(ii) 

13 may be used by Federal, State, and local 

14 law enforcement officials only for purposes 

15 of carrying out criminal investigations or 

16 prosecutions. 

17 ‘‘(iii) MEMORANDUM OF UNDER18 STANDING.—For purposes of this para19 graph, any return information disclosed 

20 under subparagraph (A)(ii) may not be 

21 provided to any State or local law enforce22 ment official until such official has entered 

23 into a memorandum of understanding with 

24 the Secretary that includes the following 

25 terms and conditions: 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 2398 IH

1 ‘‘(I) Confidentiality of returns 

2 and return information and prohibi3 tions on disclosure described in sub4 section (a)(3). 

5 ‘‘(II) Safeguards, restrictions on 

6 access, and recordkeeping require7 ments described in subsection (p)(4). 

8 ‘‘(III) Application of penalties for 

9 unauthorized disclosure of returns and 

10 return information under section 

11 7213(a)(2). 

12 ‘‘(IV) Any additional terms and 

13 conditions deemed appropriate by the 

14 Secretary.’’. 

15 (b) PREVENTION OF IDENTITY THEFT.—In the case 

16 of an employee for whom the Commissioner of the Social 

17 Security Administration has reason to believe that the so18 cial security number included on any statement described 

19 in section 6051(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

20 with respect to such employee is not the correct social se21 curity number for such employee, the Commissioner shall 

22 provide notification to the employer for such employee 

23 which includes— 

24 (1) the name of the employee and the social se25 curity number included on such statements; and 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 2398 IH

1 (2) relevant information regarding the avail2 ability of the Social Security Number Verification 

3 Service for verification of social security numbers. 

4 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS RELATED TO DIS5 CLOSURE.— 

6 (1) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Paragraph (3) of sec7 tion 6103(a) of such Code is amended by striking 

8 ‘‘or (21)’’ and inserting ‘‘(21), or (23)’’. 

9 (2) PROCEDURES AND RECORDKEEPING RE10 LATED TO DISCLOSURES.—Paragraph (4) of section 

11 6103(p) of such Code is amended by striking ‘‘or 

12 (20)’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘(20), or 

13 (23)’’. 

14 (3) UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OR INSPEC15 TION.—Paragraph (2) of section 7213(a) of such 

16 Code is amended by striking ‘‘or (21)’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘(21), or (23)’’. 

18 SEC. 3. PENALTIES FOR TAX-RELATED IDENTITY THEFT. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1028A(c) of title 18, 

20 United States Code, is amended— 

21 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (8) through 

22 (11) as paragraphs (10) through (13), respectively; 

23 and 

24 (2) by inserting after paragraph (7) the fol25 lowing new paragraphs: 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 2398 IH

1 ‘‘(8) section 286 (relating to conspiracy to de2 fraud the government with respect to claims), sec3 tion 287 (relating to false, fictitious, or fraudulent 

4 claims), section 371 (relating to conspiracy to com5 mit an offense or to defraud the United States), sec6 tion 1001 (relating to statements or entries), section 

7 1341 (relating to frauds and swindles), section 1342 

8 (relating to a fictitious name or address), section 

9 1343 (relating to fraud by wire, radio, or television), 

10 or section 1344 (relating to bank fraud), if the fel11 ony violation is a tax-related offense punishable 

12 under such section; 

13 ‘‘(9) section 7206 of the Internal Revenue Code 

14 of 1986 (relating to fraud and false statements);’’. 

15 (b) PENALTY FOR MISAPPROPRIATION OF TAX IDEN16 TIFICATION NUMBERS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Part I of subchapter B of 

18 chapter 68 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

19 amended by adding at the end the following new sec20 tion: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 6720D. MISAPPROPRIATION OF TAX IDENTIFICATION 

22 NUMBER. 

23 ‘‘In addition to any penalty provided by law, any per24 son who knowingly or willfully misappropriates another 

25 person’s tax identification number in connection with any 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 2398 IH

1 list, return, account, statement, or other document sub2 mitted to the Secretary shall pay a penalty of $5,000.’’. 

3 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of 

4 sections for part I of subchapter B of chapter 68 of 

5 such Code is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing new item: 

‘‘Sec. 6720D. Misappropriation of tax identification number.’’. 

7 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

8 by this subsection shall apply to returns and infor9 mation submitted after the date of the enactment of 

10 this Act. 

Æ 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS