II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 935 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and the Consumer Financial 

Protection Act of 2010 to regulate tax return preparers and refund 

anticipation payment arrangements, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 14, 2015 

Mr. BOOKER 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 and the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to regulate tax 

return preparers and refund anticipation payment arrangements, 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 ‘‘Tax Refund Protection 

5 Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REGULATION OF TAX RETURN PREPARERS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter A of chapter 80 of the 

3 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at 

4 the end the following new section: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 7812. REGULATION OF TAX RETURN PREPARERS. 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall— 

7 ‘‘(1) establish a program to license or certify 

8 tax return preparers subject to this section, 

9 ‘‘(2) regulate such tax return preparers, and 

10 ‘‘(3) before licensing or certifying a person as 

11 a tax return preparer subject to this section, require 

12 that the person demonstrate— 

13 ‘‘(A) good character, 

14 ‘‘(B) good reputation, 

15 ‘‘(C) necessary qualifications to enable the 

16 person to provide to taxpayers valuable service 

17 as a tax return preparer, and 

18 ‘‘(D) competency to perform the functions 

19 of a tax return preparer. 

20 ‘‘(b) AUTHORITY TO IMPOSE A FEE.—The Secretary 

21 shall require tax return preparers subject to this section 

22 to pay a reasonable fee for licensing or certification under 

23 this section. 

24 ‘‘(c) DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary 

25 shall, by rule, require tax return preparers subject to this 


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1 section to provide a disclosure statement to taxpayers that 

2 shall contain statements— 

3 ‘‘(1) identifying the amount of fees such tax re4 turn preparer charges for preparing a Federal in5 come tax return, filing a Federal income tax return, 

6 or executing a refund anticipation payment arrange7 ment, and 

8 ‘‘(2) identifying the average amount of time in 

9 which a taxpayer who files a Federal income tax re10 turn electronically can expect to receive a refund by 

11 mail, according to information provided by the Inter12 nal Revenue Service. 

13 ‘‘(d) DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES.—After notice and 

14 opportunity for a hearing, the Secretary may take any en15 forcement action against a tax return preparer subject to 

16 this section who— 

17 ‘‘(1) is incompetent, 

18 ‘‘(2) is disreputable, 

19 ‘‘(3) violates regulations prescribed under this 

20 section, or 

21 ‘‘(4) with intent to defraud, willfully and know22 ingly misleads or threatens a taxpayer. 

23 ‘‘(e) TAX RETURN PREPARER SUBJECT TO SEC24 TION.—A tax return preparer is subject to this section if 


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1 such preparer is not subject to section 330 of title 31, 

2 United States Code. 

3 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 

4 ‘‘(1) TAX RETURN PREPARER.—See section 

5 7701(a)(36) for the definition of a tax return pre6 parer. 

7 ‘‘(2) REFUND ANTICIPATION PAYMENT AR8 RANGEMENT.—The term ‘refund anticipation pay9 ment arrangement’ has the meaning given such term 

10 by section 1029B(d)(2) of the Consumer Financial 

11 Protection Act of 2010.’’. 

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

13 for subchapter A of chapter 80 of the Internal Revenue 

14 Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after the item re15 lated to section 7811 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 7812. Regulation of tax return preparers.’’. 

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

17 this section shall apply with respect to returns filed after 

18 December 31, 2015. 

19 SEC. 3. REGULATION OF REFUND ANTICIPATION PAYMENT 

20 INSTRUMENTS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle B of the Consumer Fi22 nancial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5511 et seq.) 

23 is amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 1029B. REGULATION OF REFUND ANTICIPATION PAY2 MENT ARRANGEMENTS. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Bureau shall regulate re4 fund anticipation payment arrangements. 

5 ‘‘(b) DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS.—The Bureau 

6 shall, by rule, require tax return preparers to provide a 

7 disclosure statement to a consumer that shall contain 

8 statements— 

9 ‘‘(1) identifying the amount of fees for exe10 cuting a refund anticipation payment arrangement; 

11 ‘‘(2) describing, in the case of a refund antici12 pation payment arrangement involving a depository 

13 account not controlled by the consumer, the dif14 ference in days between the average amount of time 

15 by which a consumer receives the tax refund (in 

16 whole or in part) from a refund anticipation pay17 ment arrangement and the average amount of time 

18 by which a consumer who files a Federal income tax 

19 return electronically receives the tax refund depos20 ited directly to that consumer’s deposit account by 

21 the taxing authority; 

22 ‘‘(3) that a refund anticipation payment ar23 rangement is not necessary to receive a tax refund; 

24 and 

25 ‘‘(4) that, if a consumer does not receive a tax 

26 refund or the amount of the tax refund is less than 


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1 the amount anticipated under the refund anticipa2 tion payment arrangement, the consumer may be re3 sponsible for paying any fees and interest associated 

4 with a refund anticipation payment arrangement. 

5 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS UNDER TILA.—The Bureau 

6 shall promulgate regulations that, to the extent prac7 ticable, require tax return preparers that enter into a re8 fund anticipation payment arrangement to comply with 

9 section 128 of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1638) 

10 to the same extent as a creditor making a consumer credit 

11 transaction other than under an open end credit plan. 

12 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

13 ‘‘(1) REFUND ANTICIPATION PAYMENT AR14 RANGEMENT.—The term ‘refund anticipation pay15 ment arrangement’ means an arrangement under 

16 which, in exchange for Federal income tax prepara17 tion services, a consumer agrees to pay a fee or in18 terest upon receipt of the consumer’s tax refund to 

19 a tax return preparer, lender, or other affiliated 

20 lender by— 

21 ‘‘(A) requesting the Federal Government 

22 to deposit such tax refund, in whole or in part, 

23 directly into a depository account designated by 

24 either the consumer or the tax return preparer, 

25 lender, or other affiliated lender; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) directly paying the fee or interest to 

2 the tax return preparer, lender, or other affili3 ated lender. 

4 ‘‘(2) TAX RETURN PREPARER.—The term ‘tax 

5 return preparer’ means a tax return preparer (as de6 fined in section 7701(a) of the Internal Revenue 

7 Code of 1986) who is not subject to regulation under 

8 section 330 of title 31, United States Code.’’. 

9 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

10 The table of contents of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Re11 form and Consumer Protection Act (12 U.S.C. 5301 et 

12 seq.) is amended by inserting after the item relating to 

13 section 1029A the following: 

‘‘Sec. 1029B. Regulation of refund anticipation payment arrangements.’’. 

14 (c) EXCLUSION FOR CERTAIN TAX PREPARERS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1027(d) of the Con16 sumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 

17 5517(d)) is amended by striking paragraph (1) and 

18 inserting the following: 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as permitted in 

20 paragraph (2), the Bureau may not exercise any 

21 rulemaking, supervisory, enforcement, or other au22 thority over any person that is a certified public ac23 countant, permitted to practice as a certified public 

24 accounting firm, or certified or licensed for such 

25 purpose by a State, or any individual who is emVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 Apr 17, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S935.IS S935

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1 ployed by or holds an ownership interest with re2 spect to a person described in this subparagraph, 

3 when such person is performing or offering to per4 form— 

5 ‘‘(A) customary and usual accounting ac6 tivities, including the provision of accounting, 

7 tax (except as related to tax return preparers 

8 pursuant to section 1029B), advisory, or other 

9 services that are subject to the regulatory au10 thority of a State board of accountancy or a 

11 Federal authority; or 

12 ‘‘(B) other services that are incidental to 

13 such customary and usual accounting activities, 

14 to the extent that such incidental services are 

15 not offered or provided— 

16 ‘‘(i) by the person separate and apart 

17 from such customary and usual accounting 

18 activities; or 

19 ‘‘(ii) to consumers who are not receiv20 ing such customary and usual accounting 

21 activities.’’. 

22 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 

23 1027(d) of the Consumer Financial Protection Act 

24 of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5517(d)) is amended— 


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1 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 

2 ‘‘AND TAX PREPARERS’’; and 

3 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

4 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 

5 (I) by striking ‘‘paragraph (1)(A) 

6 or (1)(B)’’ and inserting ‘‘that para7 graph’’; and 

8 (II) by striking ‘‘paragraph 

9 (1)(A)’’ each place it appears and in10 serting ‘‘paragraph (1)’’; 

11 (ii) in subparagraph (C)— 

12 (I) by striking ‘‘For purposes of 

13 subparagraphs (A) and (B), a person 

14 described in paragraph (1)(A)’’ and 

15 inserting ‘‘A person described in para16 graph (1)’’; and 

17 (II) by striking ‘‘clause (i) or (ii) 

18 of paragraph (1)(A)’’ and inserting 

19 ‘‘subparagraph (A) or (B) of para20 graph (1)’’; and 

21 (iii) in subparagraph (D), by striking 

22 ‘‘paragraph (1)(A) or (1)(B)’’ and insert23 ing ‘‘that paragraph’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. SPLIT REFUNDS MAY INCLUDE TAX RETURN PRE2 PARER. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 6402 of the Internal Rev4 enue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(m) SPLIT REFUNDS.—An income tax refund re7 quested on a return of Federal income tax prepared by 

8 an income tax preparer may be split between the preparer 

9 and the taxpayer in accordance with the split requested 

10 by the taxpayer on the return, except that the amount des11 ignated for the preparer may not exceed the amount pre12 scribed by the Secretary by regulation or other guidance. 

13 A split of an individual income tax return under this sub14 section shall not be treated as disreputable conduct merely 

15 because the taxpayer requested such split.’’. 

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

17 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to returns for tax18 able years ending after the date of the enactment of this 

19 Act. 

20 SEC. 5. REGULATIONS. 

21 Regulations issued under section 7812 of the Internal 

22 Revenue Code of 1986, as added by section 2, and regula23 tions issued under section 1029B of the Consumer Finan24 cial Protection Act of 2010, as added by section 3, should 

25 be coordinated to the extent practicable. 

Æ 


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