I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4994 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to reduce taxpayer burdens 

and enhance taxpayer protections, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 13, 2010 

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia (for himself, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. STARK, Mr. 

MCDERMOTT, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, Mr. TANNER, Mr. POMEROY, 

Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. KIND, Mr. PASCRELL, Ms. BERKLEY, 

Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. MEEK of Florida, Ms. SCHWARTZ, 

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ of California, Mr. HIGGINS, Mr. YARMUTH, and Mr. BECERRA) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, 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 reduce 

taxpayer burdens and enhance taxpayer protections, 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, ETC. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Taxpayer Assistance Act of 2010’’. 


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1 (b) AMENDMENT OF INTERNAL REVENUE CODE OF

2 1986.—Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever 

3 in this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 

4 of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provi5 sion, the reference shall be considered to be made to a 

6 section or other provision of the Internal Revenue Code 

7 of 1986. 

8 (c) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

9 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title, etc. 

TITLE I—CELL PHONES AND ELECTRONIC FILING 

Sec. 101. Removal of cellular telephones and similar telecommunications equipment from listed property. 

Sec. 102. Electronic filing exemption for religious reasons. 

Sec. 103. Accelerate interest on refunds for returns filed electronically. 

TITLE II—COLLECTION 

Sec. 201. Study on the effectiveness of collection alternatives. 

Sec. 202. Repeal of partial payment requirement on submissions of offers-incompromise. 

TITLE III—TAXPAYER ASSISTANCE AND PROTECTION 

IMPROVEMENTS 

Sec. 301. Referrals to Low-Income Taxpayer Clinics permitted. 

Sec. 302. Programs for the benefit of low-income taxpayers. 

Sec. 303. EITC outreach. 

Sec. 304. Taxpayer notification of suspected identity theft. 

Sec. 305. Clarification of IRS unclaimed refund authority. 

Sec. 306. Study on delivery of tax refunds. 

Sec. 307. Study on timely processing and use of information returns. 

Sec. 308. Study on easing the burden of in-person tax payments. 

TITLE IV—REVENUE PROVISIONS 

Sec. 401. Expansion of bad check penalty to electronic payments. 

Sec. 402. Increase in information return penalties. 

Sec. 403. Budget compliance. 


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1 TITLE I—CELL PHONES AND 

2 ELECTRONIC FILING 

3 SEC. 101. REMOVAL OF CELLULAR TELEPHONES AND SIMI4 LAR TELECOMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT 

5 FROM LISTED PROPERTY. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (A) of section 

7 280F(d)(4) (defining listed property) is amended by add8 ing ‘‘and’’ at the end of clause (iv), by striking clause (v), 

9 and by redesignating clause (vi) as clause (v). 

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

11 subsection (a) shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

12 December 31, 2009. 

13 SEC. 102. ELECTRONIC FILING EXEMPTION FOR RELIGIOUS 

14 REASONS. 

15 Paragraph (3) of section 6011(e) (relating to special 

16 rule for tax return preparers) is amended by adding at 

17 the end the following new subparagraph: 

18 ‘‘(D) EXEMPTION FOR RELIGIOUS REA19 SONS.—The Secretary may exempt from re20 quirements under subparagraph (A) a tax re21 turn preparer who— 

22 ‘‘(i) is a member of a recognized reli23 gious sect or division thereof, and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) is an adherent of established 

2 teachings or tenets that do not permit the 

3 use of magnetic media.’’. 

4 SEC. 103. ACCELERATE INTEREST ON REFUNDS FOR RE5 TURNS FILED ELECTRONICALLY. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (e) of section 6611 

7 (relating to disallowance of interest on certain overpay8 ments) is amended by adding at the end the following new 

9 paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL RULE.—In the case of any indi11 vidual income tax return relating to income tax filed 

12 by electronic means, paragraph (1) shall be applied 

13 by substituting ‘30 days’ for ‘45 days’ each place it 

14 appears.’’. 

15 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

16 subsection (a) shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

17 December 31, 2011. 

18 TITLE II—COLLECTION 

19 SEC. 201. STUDY ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF COLLECTION 

20 ALTERNATIVES. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treasury 

22 shall conduct a study to assess the effectiveness of collec23 tion alternatives, especially offers-in-compromise, on long24 term tax compliance. Such a study shall analyze a group 

25 of taxpayers who applied for offers-in-compromise 5 or 


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1 more years ago and compare the amount of revenue col2 lected from the taxpayers whose offers were accepted with 

3 the amount of revenue collected from the taxpayers whose 

4 offers were rejected, and compare, among the taxpayers 

5 whose offers were rejected, the amount they offered with 

6 the amounts collected. 

7 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

8 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury 

9 shall submit a report to Congress containing the results 

10 of the study conducted under subsection (a). 

11 SEC. 202. REPEAL OF PARTIAL PAYMENT REQUIREMENT 

12 ON SUBMISSIONS OF OFFERS-IN-COM13 PROMISE. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7122 is amended by strik15 ing subsection (c) and by redesignating subsections (d), 

16 (e), (f), and (g) as subsection (c), (d), (e), and (f), respec17 tively. 

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

19 (1) Paragraph (3) of section 7122(d) is amend20 ed— 

21 (A) by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the end of the 

22 subparagraph (A), 

23 (B) by striking ‘‘, and’’ at the end of sub24 paragraph (B) and inserting a period, and 

25 (C) by striking subparagraph (C). 


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1 (2) Subsection (f) of section 6159 is amended 

2 by striking ‘‘section 7122(e)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

3 7122(d)’’. 

4 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

5 this section shall apply to offers submitted after the date 

6 of the enactment of this Act. 

7 TITLE III—TAXPAYER ASSIST8 ANCE AND PROTECTION IM9 PROVEMENTS 

10 SEC. 301. REFERRALS TO LOW-INCOME TAXPAYER CLINICS 

11 PERMITTED. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (c) of section 7526 is 

13 amended by adding at the end the following new para14 graph: 

15 ‘‘(6) TREASURY EMPLOYEES PERMITTED TO

16 REFER TAXPAYERS TO QUALIFIED LOW-INCOME TAX17 PAYER CLINICS.—Notwithstanding any other provi18 sion of law, officers and employees of the Depart19 ment of the Treasury may refer taxpayers for advice 

20 and assistance to qualified low-income taxpayer clin21 ics receiving funding under this section.’’. 

22 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

23 this section shall apply to referrals made after the date 

24 of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 302. PROGRAMS FOR THE BENEFIT OF LOW-INCOME 

2 TAXPAYERS. 

3 (a) VOLUNTEER INCOME TAX ASSISTANCE PRO4 GRAMS.—Chapter 77 (relating to miscellaneous provi5 sions) is amended by inserting after section 7526 the fol6 lowing new section: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 7526A. VOLUNTEER INCOME TAX ASSISTANCE PRO8 GRAMS. 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may, subject to 

10 the availability of appropriated funds, make grants to pro11 vide matching funds for the development, expansion, or 

12 continuation of volunteer income tax assistance programs. 

13 ‘‘(b) VOLUNTEER INCOME TAX ASSISTANCE PRO14 GRAM.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘volunteer 

15 income tax assistance program’ means a program— 

16 ‘‘(1) which does not charge taxpayers for its re17 turn preparation services, 

18 ‘‘(2) which operates programs to assist low- and 

19 moderate-income (as determined by the Secretary) 

20 taxpayers in preparing and filing their Federal in21 come tax returns, and 

22 ‘‘(3) in which all of the volunteers who assist in 

23 the preparation of Federal income tax returns meet 

24 the requirements prescribed by the Secretary. 

25 ‘‘(c) SPECIAL RULES AND LIMITATIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) AGGREGATE LIMITATION.—Unless other2 wise provided by specific appropriation, the Sec3 retary shall not allocate more than $20,000,000 per 

4 year (exclusive of costs of administering the pro5 gram) to grants under this section. 

6 ‘‘(2) OTHER APPLICABLE RULES.—Rules simi7 lar to the rules under paragraphs (2) through (6) of 

8 section 7526(c) shall apply with respect to the 

9 awarding of grants to volunteer income tax assist10 ance programs.’’. 

11 (b) INCREASE IN AUTHORIZED GRANTS FOR LOW-IN12 COME TAXPAYER CLINICS.—Paragraph (1) of section 

13 7526(c) (relating to aggregate limitation) is amended by 

14 striking ‘‘$6,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$20,000,000’’. 

15 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.— 

16 (1) Section 7526(c)(5) is amended by inserting 

17 ‘‘qualified’’ before ‘‘low-income’’. 

18 (2) The table of sections for chapter 77 is 

19 amended by inserting after the item relating to sec20 tion 7526 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 7526A. Volunteer income tax assistance programs.’’. 

21 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

22 this section shall take effect for authorized grants made 

23 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 303. EITC OUTREACH. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 32 (relating to earned in3 come) is amended by adding at the end the following new 

4 subsection: 

5 ‘‘(n) NOTIFICATION OF POTENTIAL ELIGIBILITY FOR

6 CREDIT AND REFUND.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To the extent possible and 

8 on an annual basis, the Secretary shall provide to 

9 each taxpayer who— 

10 ‘‘(A) for any preceding taxable year for 

11 which credit or refund is not precluded by sec12 tion 6511, and 

13 ‘‘(B) did not claim the credit under sub14 section (a) but may be allowed such credit for 

15 any such taxable year based on return or return 

16 information (as defined in section 6103(b)) 

17 available to the Secretary, 

18 notice that such taxpayer may be eligible to claim 

19 such credit and a refund for such taxable year. 

20 ‘‘(2) NOTICE.—Notice provided under para21 graph (1) shall be in writing and sent to the last 

22 known address of the taxpayer.’’. 

23 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

24 this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment 

25 of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 304. TAXPAYER NOTIFICATION OF SUSPECTED IDEN2 TITY THEFT. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 77 (relating to miscella4 neous provisions), as amended by this Act, is amended by 

5 adding at the end the following new section: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 7529. NOTIFICATION OF SUSPECTED IDENTITY 

7 THEFT. 

8 ‘‘If, in the course of an investigation under the inter9 nal revenue laws, the Secretary determines that there was 

10 or may have been an unauthorized use of the identity of 

11 the taxpayer or a dependent of the taxpayer, the Secretary 

12 shall, to the extent permitted by law— 

13 ‘‘(1) as soon as practicable and without jeop14 ardizing such investigation, notify the taxpayer of 

15 such determination, and 

16 ‘‘(2) if any person is criminally charged by in17 dictment or information with respect to such unau18 thorized use, notify such taxpayer as soon as prac19 ticable of such charge.’’. 

20 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

21 for chapter 77 is amended by adding at the end the fol22 lowing new item: 

‘‘Sec. 7529. Notification of suspected identity theft.’’. 

23 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

24 this section shall apply to determinations made after the 

25 date of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 305. CLARIFICATION OF IRS UNCLAIMED REFUND AU2 THORITY. 

3 Paragraph (1) of section 6103(m) (relating to tax re4 funds) is amended by inserting ‘‘, and through any other 

5 means of mass communication,’’ after ‘‘media’’. 

6 SEC. 306. STUDY ON DELIVERY OF TAX REFUNDS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The National Taxpayer Advocate 

8 shall conduct a study on the feasibility of delivering tax 

9 refunds on debit cards, prepaid cards, and other electronic 

10 means to assist individuals that do not have access to fi11 nancial accounts or institutions. 

12 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

13 of enactment of this Act, the National Taxpayer Advocate 

14 shall submit a report to Congress containing the results 

15 of the study conducted under subsection (a). 

16 SEC. 307. STUDY ON TIMELY PROCESSING AND USE OF IN17 FORMATION RETURNS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treasury 

19 shall conduct a study on the administrative and legislative 

20 changes that would be needed to receive and process infor21 mation returns before processing income tax returns. 

22 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

23 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 

24 a report to the Committee on Ways and Means of the 

25 House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance 

26 of the Senate containing the results of the study conducted 


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1 under subsection (a), together with such recommendations 

2 as the Secretary considers necessary or appropriate for 

3 implementation of these changes. 

4 SEC. 308. STUDY ON EASING THE BURDEN OF IN-PERSON 

5 TAX PAYMENTS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treasury 

7 shall conduct a study on how to reduce the number of tax8 payers making payments at IRS Taxpayer Assistance 

9 Centers. The report shall include an analysis of— 

10 (1) whether the Federal Tax Deposit Coupon 

11 (Form 8109) could be expanded so that it can be 

12 used with all Federal tax deposits and payments, 

13 and 

14 (2) what current or new return filing, payment, 

15 and proof of payment options could be implemented 

16 to reduce the burden of in-person payments. 

17 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

18 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 

19 a report to the Committee on Ways and Means of the 

20 House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance 

21 of the Senate containing the results of the study conducted 

22 under subsection (a), together with such recommendations 

23 as the Secretary considers necessary or appropriate. 


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1 TITLE IV—REVENUE 

2 PROVISIONS 

3 SEC. 401. EXPANSION OF BAD CHECK PENALTY TO ELEC4 TRONIC PAYMENTS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 6657 (relating to bad 

6 checks) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘Except as otherwise provided by the Secretary, any au8 thorization of a payment by commercially acceptable 

9 means (within the meaning of section 6311) shall be treat10 ed for purposes of this section in the same manner as a 

11 check.’’. 

12 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

13 subsection (a) shall apply to authorizations of payments 

14 made after December 31, 2010. 

15 SEC. 402. INCREASE IN INFORMATION RETURN PENALTIES. 

16 (a) FAILURE TO FILE CORRECT INFORMATION RE17 TURNS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subsections (a)(1), 

19 (b)(1)(A), and (b)(2)(A) of section 6721 are each 

20 amended by striking ‘‘$50’’ and inserting ‘‘$100’’. 

21 (2) AGGREGATE ANNUAL LIMITATION.—Sub22 sections (a)(1), (d)(1)(A), and (e)(3)(A) of section 

23 6721 are each amended by striking ‘‘$250,000’’ and 

24 inserting ‘‘$1,500,000’’. 


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1 (b) REDUCTION WHERE CORRECTION WITHIN 30 

2 DAYS.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (A) of section 

4 6721(b)(1) is amended by striking ‘‘$15’’ and insert5 ing ‘‘$30’’. 

6 (2) AGGREGATE ANNUAL LIMITATION.—Sub7 sections (b)(1)(B) and (d)(1)(B) of section 6721 are 

8 each amended by striking ‘‘$75,000’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘$250,000’’. 

10 (c) REDUCTION WHERE CORRECTION ON OR BEFORE

11 AUGUST 1.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (A) of section 

13 6721(b)(2) is amended by striking ‘‘$30’’ and insert14 ing ‘‘$60’’. 

15 (2) AGGREGATE ANNUAL LIMITATION.—Sub16 sections (b)(2)(B) and (d)(1)(C) of section 6721 are 

17 each amended by striking ‘‘$150,000’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘$500,000’’. 

19 (d) AGGREGATE ANNUAL LIMITATIONS FOR PER20 SONS WITH GROSS RECEIPTS OF NOT MORE THAN

21 $5,000,000.—Paragraph (1) of section 6721(d) is amend22 ed— 

23 (1) by striking ‘‘$100,000’’ in subparagraph 

24 (A) and inserting ‘‘$500,000’’, 


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1 (2) by striking ‘‘$25,000’’ in subparagraph (B) 

2 and inserting ‘‘$75,000’’, and 

3 (3) by striking ‘‘$50,000’’ in subparagraph (C) 

4 and inserting ‘‘$200,000’’. 

5 (e) PENALTY IN CASE OF INTENTIONAL DIS6 REGARD.—Paragraph (2) of section 6721(e) is amended 

7 by striking ‘‘$100’’ and inserting ‘‘$250’’. 

8 (f) ADJUSTMENT FOR INFLATION.—Section 6721 is 

9 amended by adding at the end the following new sub10 section: 

11 ‘‘(f) ADJUSTMENT FOR INFLATION.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For each fifth calendar 

13 year beginning after 2012, each of the dollar 

14 amounts under subsections (a), (b), (d) (other than 

15 paragraph (2)(A) thereof), and (e) shall be increased 

16 by such dollar amount multiplied by the cost-of-liv17 ing adjustment determined under section 1(f)(3) de18 termined by substituting ‘calendar year 2011’ for 

19 ‘calendar year 1992’ in subparagraph (B) thereof. 

20 ‘‘(2) ROUNDING.—If any amount adjusted 

21 under paragraph (1)— 

22 ‘‘(A) is not less than $75,000 and is not 

23 a multiple of $500, such amount shall be 

24 rounded to the next lowest multiple of $500, 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(B) is not described in subparagraph (A) 

2 and is not a multiple of $10, such amount shall 

3 be rounded to the next lowest multiple of $10.’’. 

4 (g) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

5 this section shall apply with respect to information returns 

6 required to be filed on or after January 1, 2011. 

7 SEC. 403. BUDGET COMPLIANCE. 

8 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 

9 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 

10 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 

11 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 

12 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 

13 by the Chairman of the Committee on the Budget of the 

14 House of Representatives, provided that such statement 

15 has been submitted prior to the vote on passage. 

Æ 


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