II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 832 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide taxpayer protection 

and assistance, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 18, 2005 

Mr. BINGAMAN (for himself, Mr. SMITH, Mr. BAUCUS, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. 

AKAKA, Mr. SCHUMER, and Mr. PRYOR) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide 

taxpayer protection and assistance, 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; AMENDMENT OF 1986 CODE. 

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

5 ‘‘Taxpayer Protection and Assistance Act of 2005’’. 

6 (b) AMENDMENT OF 1986 CODE.—Except as other7 wise expressly provided, whenever in this Act an amend8 ment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment 

9 to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference 
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1 shall be considered to be made to a section or other provi2 sion of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

3 SEC. 2. LOW-INCOME TAXPAYER CLINICS. 

4 (a) GRANTS FOR RETURN PREPARATION CLINICS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 77 (relating to mis6 cellaneous provisions) is amended by inserting after 

7 section 7526 the following new section: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 7526A. RETURN PREPARATION CLINICS FOR LOW-IN9 COME TAXPAYERS. 

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

11 the availability of appropriated funds, make grants to pro12 vide matching funds for the development, expansion, or 

13 continuation of qualified return preparation clinics. 

14 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 

15 ‘‘(1) QUALIFIED RETURN PREPARATION CLIN16 IC.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified 

18 return preparation clinic’ means a clinic 

19 which— 

20 ‘‘(i) does not charge more than a 

21 nominal fee for its services (except for re22 imbursement of actual costs incurred), and 

23 ‘‘(ii) operates programs which assist 

24 low-income taxpayers, including individuals 

25 for whom English is a second language, in 
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1 preparing and filing their Federal income 

2 tax returns, including schedules reporting 

3 sole proprietorship or farm income. 

4 ‘‘(B) ASSISTANCE TO LOW-INCOME TAX5 PAYERS.—A clinic is treated as assisting low-in6 come taxpayers under subparagraph (A)(ii) if 

7 at least 90 percent of the taxpayers assisted by 

8 the clinic have incomes which do not exceed 250 

9 percent of the poverty level, as determined in 

10 accordance with criteria established by the Di11 rector of the Office of Management and Budg12 et. 

13 ‘‘(2) CLINIC.—The term ‘clinic’ includes— 

14 ‘‘(A) a clinical program at an eligible edu15 cational institution (as defined in section 

16 529(e)(5)) which satisfies the requirements of 

17 paragraph (1) through student assistance of 

18 taxpayers in return preparation and filing, and 

19 ‘‘(B) an organization described in section 

20 501(c) and exempt from tax under section 

21 501(a) which satisfies the requirements of para22 graph (1). 

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

24 ‘‘(1) AGGREGATE LIMITATION.—Unless other25 wise provided by specific appropriation, the Sec-
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1 retary shall not allocate more than $10,000,000 per 

2 year (exclusive of costs of administering the pro3 gram) to grants under this section. 

4 ‘‘(2) OTHER APPLICABLE RULES.—Rules simi5 lar to the rules under paragraphs (2) through (7) of 

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

7 awarding of grants to qualified return preparation 

8 clinics.’’. 

9 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec10 tions for chapter 77 is amended by inserting after 

11 the item relating to section 7526 the following new 

12 item:

‘‘Sec. 7526A. Return preparation clinics for low-income taxpayers.’’.

13 (b) GRANTS FOR TAXPAYER REPRESENTATION AND

14 ASSISTANCE CLINICS.— 

15 (1) INCREASE IN AUTHORIZED GRANTS.—Sec16 tion 7526(c)(1) (relating to aggregate limitation) is 

17 amended by striking ‘‘$6,000,000’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘$10,000,000’’. 

19 (2) USE OF GRANTS FOR OVERHEAD EXPENSES

20 PROHIBITED.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 7526(c) (relat22 ing to special rules and limitations) is amended 

23 by adding at the end the following new para24 graph: 
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1 ‘‘(6) USE OF GRANTS FOR OVERHEAD EX2 PENSES PROHIBITED.—No grant made under this 

3 section may be used for the overhead expenses of 

4 any clinic or of any institution sponsoring such clin5 ic.’’. 

6 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 

7 7526(c)(5) is amended— 

8 (i) by inserting ‘‘qualified’’ before 

9 ‘‘low-income’’, and 

10 (ii) by striking the last sentence. 

11 (3) PROMOTION OF CLINICS.—Section 7526(c), 

12 as amended by paragraph (2), is amended by adding 

13 at the end the following new paragraph: 

14 ‘‘(7) PROMOTION OF CLINICS.—The Secretary 

15 is authorized to promote the benefits of and encour16 age the use of low-income taxpayer clinics through 

17 the use of mass communications, referrals, and other 

18 means.’’. 

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

20 this section shall apply to grants made after the date of 

21 the enactment of this Act. 
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1 SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION OF ENROLLED AGENT CREDEN2 TIALS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 77 (relating to miscella4 neous provisions) is amended by adding at the end the 

5 following new section: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 7529. ENROLLED AGENTS. 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may prescribe 

8 such regulations as may be necessary to regulate the con9 duct of enrolled agents in regards to their practice before 

10 the Internal Revenue Service. 

11 ‘‘(b) USE OF CREDENTIALS.—Any enrolled agents 

12 properly licensed to practice as required under rules pro13 mulgated under subsection (a) shall be allowed to use the 

14 credentials or designation as ‘enrolled agent’, ‘EA’, or 

15 ‘E.A.’.’’. 

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

17 for chapter 77 is amended by adding at the end the fol18 lowing new item:

‘‘Sec. 7529. Enrolled agents.’’.

19 (c) PRIOR REGULATIONS.—The authorization to pre20 scribe regulations under the amendments made by this 

21 section may not be construed to have any effect on part 

22 10 of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations, or any other 

23 related Federal rule or regulation issued before the date 

24 of the enactment of this Act. 
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1 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

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

3 of this Act. 

4 SEC. 4. REGULATION OF INCOME TAX RETURN PREPARERS. 

5 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—Section 330(a)(1) of title 31, 

6 United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘(including 

7 compensated preparers of tax returns, documents, and 

8 other submissions)’’ after ‘‘representatives’’. 

9 (b) REQUIREMENT.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

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

12 of the Treasury shall prescribe regulations under 

13 section 330 of title 31, United States Code— 

14 (A) to regulate those compensated pre15 parers not otherwise regulated under regula16 tions promulgated under such section on the 

17 date of the enactment of this Act, and 

18 (B) to carry out the provisions of, and 

19 amendments made by, this section. 

20 (2) EXAMINATION.—In promulgating the regu21 lations under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall de22 velop (or approve) and administer an eligibility ex23 amination designed to test— 
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1 (A) the technical knowledge and com2 petency of each preparer described in para3 graph (1)(A)— 

4 (i) to prepare Federal tax returns, in5 cluding individual and business income tax 

6 returns, and 

7 (ii) to properly claim the earned in8 come tax credit under section 32 of the In9 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 with respect 

10 to such individual returns, and 

11 (B) the knowledge of each such preparer 

12 regarding such ethical standards for the prepa13 ration of such returns as determined appro14 priate by the Secretary. 

15 (3) CONTINUING ELIGIBILITY.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—The regulations under 

17 paragraph (1) shall require a renewal of eligi18 bility every 3 years and shall set forth the man19 ner in which a preparer described in paragraph 

20 (1)(A) must renew such eligibility. 

21 (B) CONTINUING EDUCATION REQUIRE22 MENTS.—As part of the renewal of eligibility, 

23 such regulations shall require that each such 

24 preparer show evidence of completion of such 
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1 continuing education requirements as specified 

2 by the Secretary. 

3 (C) NONMONETARY SANCTIONS.—The reg4 ulations under paragraph (1) shall provide for 

5 the suspension or termination of such eligibility 

6 in the event of any failure to comply with the 

7 requirements for such eligibility. 

8 (c) OFFICE OF PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY.—

9 Section 330 of title 31, United States Code, is amended 

10 by adding at the end the following new subsection: 

11 ‘‘(e) OFFICE OF PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be in the Inter13 nal Revenue Service an Office of Professional Re14 sponsibility the functions of which shall be as pre15 scribed by the Secretary of the Treasury, including 

16 the carrying out of the purposes of this section. 

17 ‘‘(2) DIRECTOR.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Office of Profes19 sional Responsibility shall be under the super20 vision and direction of an official known as the 

21 ‘Director, Office of Professional Responsibility’. 

22 The Director, Office of Professional Responsi23 bility, shall report directly to the Commissioner 

24 of Internal Revenue and shall be entitled to 

25 compensation at the same rate as the highest 
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1 rate of basic pay established for the Senior Ex2 ecutive Service under section 5382 of title 5, or, 

3 if the Secretary of the Treasury so determines, 

4 at a rate fixed under section 9503 of such title. 

5 ‘‘(B) APPOINTMENT.—The Director, Office 

6 of Professional Responsibility, shall be ap7 pointed by the Secretary of the Treasury with8 out regard to the provisions of title 5 relating 

9 to appointments in the competitive service or 

10 the Senior Executive Service. 

11 ‘‘(3) HEARING.—Any hearing on an action ini12 tiated by the Director, Office of Professional Re13 sponsibility to impose a sanction under regulations 

14 promulgated under this section shall be conducted in 

15 accordance with sections 556 and 557 of title 5 by 

16 1 or more administrative law judges appointed by 

17 the Secretary of the Treasury under section 3105 of 

18 title 5. 

19 ‘‘(4) INFORMATION ON SANCTIONS TO BE

20 AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC.— 

21 ‘‘(A) SANCTIONS INITIATED BY ACTION.—

22 When an action is initiated by the Director, Of23 fice of Professional Responsibility, to impose a 

24 sanction under regulations promulgated under 

25 this section, the pleadings, and the record of 
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1 the proceeding and hearing shall be open to the 

2 public (subject to restrictions imposed under 

3 subparagraph (C)). 

4 ‘‘(B) SANCTION NOT INITIATED BY AC5 TION.—When a sanction under regulations pro6 mulgated under this section (other than a pri7 vate reprimand) is imposed without initiation of 

8 an action, the Director, Office of Professional 

9 Responsibility, shall make available to the pub10 lic information identifying the representative, 

11 employer, firm or other entity sanctioned, as 

12 well as information about the conduct which 

13 gave rise to the sanction (subject to restrictions 

14 imposed under subparagraph (C)). 

15 ‘‘(C) RESTRICTIONS ON RELEASE OF IN16 FORMATION.—Information about clients of the 

17 representative, employer, firm or other entity 

18 and medical information with respect to the 

19 representative shall not be released to the pub20 lic or discussed in an open hearing, except to 

21 the extent necessary to understand the nature, 

22 scope, and impact of the conduct giving rise to 

23 the sanction or proposed sanction. Disagree24 ments regarding the application of this sub25 paragraph shall be resolved by the administra-
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1 tive law judge or, when a sanction is imposed 

2 without initiation of an action, by the Director, 

3 Office of Professional Responsibility. 

4 ‘‘(5) FEES.—Any fees imposed under regula5 tions promulgated under this section shall be avail6 able without fiscal year limitation to the Office of 

7 Professional Responsibility for the purpose of reim8 bursement of the costs of administering and enforc9 ing the requirements of such regulations.’’. 

10 (d) PENALTIES.— 

11 (1) INCREASE IN CERTAIN PENALTIES.—Sub12 sections (b) and (c) of section 6695 (relating to 

13 other assessable penalties with respect to the prepa14 ration of income tax returns for other persons) are 

15 each amended by striking ‘‘$50’’ and inserting 

16 ‘‘$500’’. 

17 (2) USE OF PENALTIES.—Unless specifically 

18 appropriated otherwise, there is authorized to be ap19 propriated and is appropriated to the Office of Pro20 fessional Responsibility for each fiscal year for the 

21 administration of the public awareness campaign de22 scribed in subsection (f) an amount equal to the 

23 penalties collected during the preceding fiscal year 

24 under sections 6694 and 6695 of the Internal Rev25 enue Code of 1986 and under the regulations pro-
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1 mulgated under section 330 of title 31, United 

2 States Code (by reason of subsection (b)(1)). 

3 (e) COORDINATION WITH SECTION 6060(a).—The 

4 Secretary of the Treasury shall coordinate the require5 ments under the regulations promulgated under section 

6 330 of title 31, United States Code, with the return re7 quirements of section 6060 of the Internal Revenue Code 

8 of 1986. 

9 (f) PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN.—The Secretary 

10 of the Treasury shall conduct a public information and 

11 consumer education campaign, utilizing paid advertising— 

12 (1) to encourage taxpayers to use for Federal 

13 tax matters only professionals who establish their 

14 competency under the regulations promulgated 

15 under section 330 of title 31, United States Code, 

16 and 

17 (2) to inform the public of the requirements 

18 that any compensated preparer of tax returns, docu19 ments, and submissions subject to the requirements 

20 under the regulations promulgated under such sec21 tion must sign the return, document, or submission 

22 prepared for a fee and display notice of such pre23 parer’s compliance under such regulations. 

24 (g) ADDITIONAL FUNDS AVAILABLE FOR COMPLI25 ANCE ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary of the Treasury may 
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1 use any specifically appropriated funds for earned income 

2 tax credit compliance to improve and expand enforcement 

3 of the regulations promulgated under section 330 of title 

4 31, United States Code. 

5 (h) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

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

7 of this Act. 

8 SEC. 5. CONTRACT AUTHORITY FOR EXAMINATIONS OF 

9 PREPARERS. 

10 The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to con11 tract for the development or administration, or both, of 

12 any examinations under the regulations promulgated 

13 under section 330 of title 31, United States Code. 

14 SEC. 6. REGULATION OF REFUND ANTICIPATION LOAN 

15 FACILITATORS. 

16 (a) REGULATION OF REFUND ANTICIPATION LOAN

17 FACILITATORS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 77 (relating to mis19 cellaneous provisions), as amended by this Act, is 

20 amended by inserting at the end the following new 

21 section: 

22 ‘‘SEC. 7530. REFUND ANTICIPATION LOAN FACILITATORS. 

23 ‘‘(a) REGISTRATION.—Each refund loan facilitator 

24 shall register with the Secretary on an annual basis. As 

25 a part of such registration, each refund loan facilitator 
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1 shall provide the Secretary with the taxpayer identification 

2 number of such facilitator. 

3 ‘‘(b) DISCLOSURE.—Each refund loan facilitator 

4 shall disclose to a taxpayer both orally and on a separate 

5 written form at the time such taxpayer applies for a re6 fund anticipation loan the following information: 

7 ‘‘(1) NATURE OF THE TRANSACTION.—The re8 fund loan facilitator shall disclose— 

9 ‘‘(A) that the taxpayer is applying for a 

10 loan that is based upon the taxpayer’s antici11 pated income tax refund, 

12 ‘‘(B) the expected time within which the 

13 loan will be paid to the taxpayer if such loan is 

14 approved, 

15 ‘‘(C) the time frame in which tax refunds 

16 are typically paid based upon the different filing 

17 options available to the taxpayer, 

18 ‘‘(D) that there is no guarantee that a re19 fund will be paid in full or received within a 

20 specified time period and that the taxpayer is 

21 responsible for the repayment of the loan even 

22 if the refund is not paid in full or has been de23 layed, 

24 ‘‘(E) if the refund loan facilitator has an 

25 agreement with another refund loan facilitator 
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1 (or any lender working in conjunction with an2 other refund loan facilitator) to offset out3 standing liabilities for previous refund anticipa4 tion loans provided by such other refund loan 

5 facilitator, that any refund paid to the taxpayer 

6 may be so offset and the implication of any 

7 such offset, 

8 ‘‘(F) that the taxpayer may file an elec9 tronic return without applying for a refund an10 ticipation loan and the fee for filing such an 

11 electronic return, and 

12 ‘‘(G) that the loan may have substantial 

13 fees and interest charges that may exceed those 

14 of other sources of credit and the taxpayer 

15 should carefully consider— 

16 ‘‘(i) whether such a loan is appro17 priate for the taxpayer, and 

18 ‘‘(ii) other sources of credit. 

19 ‘‘(2) FEES AND INTEREST.—The refund loan 

20 facilitator shall disclose all refund anticipation loan 

21 fees with respect to the refund anticipation loan. 

22 Such disclosure shall include— 

23 ‘‘(A) a copy of the fee schedule of the re24 fund loan facilitator, 
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1 ‘‘(B) the typical fees and interest rates 

2 (using annual percentage rates as defined by 

3 section 107 of the Truth in Lending Act (15 

4 U.S.C. 1606)) for several typical amounts of 

5 such loans, 

6 ‘‘(C) typical fees and interest charges if a 

7 refund is not paid or delayed, and 

8 ‘‘(D) the amount of a fee (if any) that will 

9 be charged if the loan is not approved. 

10 ‘‘(3) OTHER INFORMATION.—The refund loan 

11 facilitator shall disclose any other information re12 quired to be disclosed by the Secretary. 

13 ‘‘(c) FINES AND SANCTIONS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may impose 

15 a monetary penalty on any refund loan facilitator 

16 who— 

17 ‘‘(A) fails to register under subsection (a), 

18 or 

19 ‘‘(B) fails to disclose any information re20 quired under subsection (b). 

21 ‘‘(2) MAXIMUM MONETARY PENALTY.—Any 

22 monetary penalty imposed under paragraph (1) shall 

23 not exceed— 

24 ‘‘(A) in the case of a failure to register, 

25 the gross income derived from all refund antici-
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1 pation loans made during the period the refund 

2 loan facilitator was not registered, and 

3 ‘‘(B) in the case of a failure to disclose in4 formation, the gross income derived from all re5 fund anticipation loans with respect to which 

6 such failure applied. 

7 ‘‘(3) REASONABLE CAUSE EXCEPTIONS.—No 

8 penalty may be imposed under this subsection with 

9 respect to any failure if it is shown that such failure 

10 is due to reasonable cause. 

11 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 

12 ‘‘(1) REFUND LOAN FACILITATOR.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘refund loan 

14 facilitator’ means any electronic return origi15 nator who— 

16 ‘‘(i) solicits for, processes, receives, or 

17 accepts delivery of an application for a re18 fund anticipation loan, or 

19 ‘‘(ii) facilitates the making of a refund 

20 anticipation loan in any other manner. 

21 ‘‘(B) ELECTRONIC RETURN ORIGINATOR.—

22 For purposes of subparagraph (A), the term 

23 ‘electronic return originator’ means a person 

24 who originates the electronic submission of in25 come tax returns for another person. 
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1 ‘‘(2) REFUND ANTICIPATION LOAN.—The term 

2 ‘refund anticipation loan’ means any loan of money 

3 or any other thing of value to a taxpayer in connec4 tion with the taxpayer’s anticipated receipt of a Fed5 eral tax refund. Such term includes a loan secured 

6 by the tax refund or an arrangement to repay a loan 

7 from the tax refund. 

8 ‘‘(3) REFUND ANTICIPATION LOAN FEES.—The 

9 term ‘refund anticipation loan fees’ means the fees, 

10 charges, interest, and other consideration charged or 

11 imposed by the lender or facilitator for the making 

12 of a refund anticipation loan. 

13 ‘‘(e) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary may prescribe 

14 such regulation as necessary to implement the require15 ments of this section.’’. 

16 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec17 tions for chapter 77, as amended by this Act, is 

18 amended by adding at the end the following new 

19 item:

‘‘Sec. 7530. Refund anticipation loan facilitators.’’.

20 (b) DISCLOSURE OF PENALTY.—Subsection (k) of 

21 section 6103 is amended by adding at the end the fol22 lowing new paragraph: 

23 ‘‘(10) DISCLOSURE OF PENALTIES ON REFUND

24 ANTICIPATION LOAN FACILITATORS.—The Secretary 

25 may disclose the name of any person with respect to 
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1 whom a penalty has been imposed under section 

2 7530 and the amount of any such penalty.’’. 

3 (c) USE OF PENALTIES.—Unless specifically appro4 priated otherwise, there is authorized to be appropriated 

5 and is appropriated to the Internal Revenue Service for 

6 each fiscal year for the administration of the public aware7 ness campaign described in subsection (d) an amount 

8 equal to the penalties collected during the preceding fiscal 

9 year under section 7530 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

10 1986. 

11 (d) PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN.—The Secretary 

12 of the Treasury shall conduct a public information and 

13 consumer education campaign, utilizing paid advertising, 

14 to educate the public on making sound financial decisions 

15 with respect to refund anticipation loans (as defined under 

16 section 7530 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986), in17 cluding the need to compare— 

18 (1) the rates and fees of such loans with the 

19 rates and fees of conventional loans; and 

20 (2) the amount of money received under the 

21 loan after taking into consideration such costs and 

22 fees with the total amount of the refund. 

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

24 this section shall take effect on the date that is 1 year 

25 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
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1 SEC. 7. TAXPAYER ACCESS TO FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS. 

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Secretary 

3 is authorized to award demonstration project grants (in4 cluding multi-year grants) to eligible entities which part5 ner with volunteer and low-income preparation organiza6 tions to provide tax preparation services and assistance 

7 in connection with establishing an account in a federally 

8 insured depository institution for individuals that cur9 rently do not have such an account. 

10 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—An entity is eligible to re12 ceive a grant under this section if such an entity 

13 is— 

14 (A) an organization described in section 

15 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

16 and exempt from tax under section 501(a) of 

17 such Code, 

18 (B) a federally insured depository institu19 tion, 

20 (C) an agency of a State or local govern21 ment, 

22 (D) a community development financial in23 stitution, 

24 (E) an Indian tribal organization, 

25 (F) an Alaska Native Corporation, 

26 (G) a Native Hawaiian organization, 
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1 (H) a labor organization, or 

2 (I) a partnership comprised of 1 or more 

3 of the entities described in the preceding sub4 paragraphs. 

5 (2) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sec6 tion— 

7 (A) FEDERALLY INSURED DEPOSITORY IN8 STITUTION.—The term ‘‘federally insured de9 pository institution’’ means any insured deposi10 tory institution (as defined in section 3 of the 

11 Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 

12 1813)) and any insured credit union (as defined 

13 in section 101 of the Federal Credit Union Act 

14 (12 U.S.C. 1752)). 

15 (B) COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FINAN16 CIAL INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘community de17 velopment financial institution’’ means any or18 ganization that has been certified as such pur19 suant to section 1805.201 of title 12, Code of 

20 Federal Regulations. 

21 (C) ALASKA NATIVE CORPORATION.—The 

22 term ‘‘Alaska Native Corporation’’ has the 

23 same meaning as the term ‘‘Native Corpora24 tion’’ under section 3(m) of the Alaska Native 

25 Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1602(m)). 
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1 (D) NATIVE HAWAIIAN ORGANIZATION.—

2 The term ‘‘Native Hawaiian organization’’ 

3 means any organization that— 

4 (i) serves and represents the interests 

5 of Native Hawaiians, and 

6 (ii) has as a primary and stated pur7 pose the provision of services to Native 

8 Hawaiians. 

9 (E) LABOR ORGANIZATION.—The term 

10 ‘‘labor organization’’ means an organization— 

11 (i) in which employees participate, 

12 (ii) which exists for the purpose, in 

13 whole or in part, of dealing with employers 

14 concerning grievances, labor disputes, 

15 wages, rates of pay, hours of employment, 

16 or conditions of work, and 

17 (iii) which is described in section 

18 501(c)(5). 

19 (c) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity desiring a grant 

20 under this section shall submit an application to the Sec21 retary in such form and containing such information as 

22 the Secretary may require. 

23 (d) LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—A re24 cipient of a grant under this section may not use more 

25 than 6 percent of the total amount of such grant in any 
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1 fiscal year for the administrative costs of carrying out the 

2 programs funded by such grant in such fiscal year. 

3 (e) EVALUATION AND REPORT.—For each fiscal year 

4 in which a grant is awarded under this section, the Sec5 retary shall submit a report to Congress containing a de6 scription of the activities funded, amounts distributed, and 

7 measurable results, as appropriate and available. 

8 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

9 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary, for the 

10 grant program described in this section, $10,000,000, or 

11 such additional amounts as deemed necessary, to remain 

12 available until expended. 

13 (g) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary is authorized to 

14 promulgate regulations to implement and administer the 

15 grant program under this section. 

16 (h) STUDY ON DELIVERY OF TAX REFUNDS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treas18 ury, in consultation with the National Taxpayer Ad19 vocate, shall conduct a study on the payment of tax 

20 refunds through debit cards or other electronic 

21 means to assist individuals that do not have access 

22 to financial accounts or institutions. 

23 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 

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

25 the Treasury shall submit a report to Congress con-
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1 taining the result of the study conducted under sub2 section (a). 

3 SEC. 8. EXPANDED USE OF TAX COURT PRACTICE FEES 

4 FOR PRO SE TAXPAYERS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7475(b) (relating to use 

6 of fees) is amended by inserting before the period at the 

7 end ‘‘and to provide services to pro se taxpayers’’. 

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

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

10 of this Act.

Æ