Increase Reliable Services Now Act

Subjects: Taxation

Summary:  <p> <strong>Increase Reliable Services Now Act </strong></p> <p>This bill imposes limits on Internal Revenue Service (IRS) enforcement activities and hiring. </p> <p>The bill prohibits the IRS from hiring any person for enforcement activities until the end of a period in which the IRS has maintained for 6 consecutive months a level of access for phone lines of not less than 90%, and an average speed of answering calls in 4 minutes or less. The bill also requires that not less than 90% of regular IRS employees perform work in person at their job sites. </p> <p>The bill prohibits the IRS from auditing taxpayers with taxable incomes below $400,000 at a greater rate than before the enactment of this bill. </p> <p>Further, the IRS may not hire additional personnel (other than for return processing activities and call center operations) until its tax return processing backlog is not in excess of 5 million cases and it issues tax refunds within 6 weeks or less after receipt of a tax return.</p>

<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1337 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

&lt;DOC&gt;






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1337

   To temporarily prohibit the hiring of additional Internal Revenue 
   Service employees until a certain level of taxpayer services have 
                   improved, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 27, 2023

Mr. Thune (for himself and Ms. Collins) introduced the following bill; 
     which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To temporarily prohibit the hiring of additional Internal Revenue 
   Service employees until a certain level of taxpayer services have 
                   improved, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Increase Reliable Services Now 
Act''.

SEC. 2. TEMPORARY PROHIBITION ON ADDITIONAL TAX ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, the 
Internal Revenue Service may not hire any person for the purpose of 
conducting enforcement activities during the period beginning on the 
date of the enactment of this Act and ending on the first date after 
such date on which--
            (1) the Internal Revenue Service has maintained, for 6 
        consecutive months--
                    (A) a level of access for accounts management phone 
                lines of not less than 90 percent; and
                    (B) an average speed of answering enterprise-wide 
                calls in 4 minutes or less; and
            (2) not less than 90 percent of the regular employees of 
        the Internal Revenue Service perform work in person at their 
        job sites.
    (b) Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
            (1) Enforcement activities.--The term ``enforcement 
        activities'' means activities described in section 
        10301(a)(1)(A)(ii) of Public Law 117-169.
            (2) Level of access.--The term ``level of access'' means a 
        telephone performance measure that reflects overall taxpayer 
        call demand and Internal Revenue Service assistance and is 
        calculated by dividing--
                    (A) the sum of assistor calls answered and the 
                automated calls answered; by
                    (B) the total dialed number attempts (not including 
                any dialed number attempts after hours).

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON USE OF ADDITIONAL INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE FUNDS 
              FOR TAXPAYER AUDITS.

    Section 10301(a)(1)(A)(ii) of Public Law 117-169 is amended by 
inserting before the period at the end the following: ``: Provided 
further, That the Internal Revenue Service shall not audit taxpayers 
with taxable incomes below $400,000 at a greater rate than such 
taxpayers were audited for the most recent taxable year beginning 
before the date of the enactment of this Act''.

SEC. 4. TEMPORARY PROHIBITION ON INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE HIRING.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, the 
Internal Revenue Service may not hire any person (other than for 
activities related to return processing and call center operations) 
during the period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act 
and ending on the first date after such date on which the Internal 
Revenue Service meets the requirements of subsection (b).
    (b) Requirements.--The requirements specified in this subsection 
are the following:
            (1) With respect to the completion of processing original 
        and amended tax returns, the completion of processing suspended 
        tax returns, and the resolution of accounts management cases, 
        the Internal Revenue Service has an aggregate inventory not in 
        excess of 5,000,000 items as of the close of any calendar 
        quarter.
            (2) With respect to tax returns eligible for a refund, 
        refunds are issued to taxpayers on average within six weeks or 
        less of the receipt of the return.

SEC. 5. REPORTS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 7 days after the last day of each 
calendar quarter beginning during the applicable period, the 
Commissioner of Internal Revenue, in consultation with the Treasury 
Inspector General for Tax Administration, shall submit to the 
appropriate Congressional committees report on--
            (1) the level of access for accounts management phone lines 
        for each month during such calendar quarter;
            (2) the average speed of answering enterprise-wide calls 
        for each month during such calendar quarter;
            (3) the percentage of regular employees of the Internal 
        Revenue Service that perform work in person at their job sites 
        during such calendar quarter;
            (4) the aggregate inventory of unprocessed original and 
        amended tax returns, unprocessed suspended tax returns, and 
        unresolved accounts management cases as of the last day of the 
        calendar quarter; and
            (5) with respect to tax returns eligible for a refund, the 
        average length of time between receipt of a tax return and the 
        issuance of a refund.
    (b) Applicable Period.--For purposes of this section, the term 
``applicable period'' means the period beginning with the first 
calendar quarter beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act 
and ending with the first calendar quarter in which the Internal 
Revenue Service--
            (1) has met the requirements under paragraphs (1) and (2) 
        of section 2(a); and
            (2) has met the requirements of section 4(b).
    (c) Appropriate Congressional Committees.--For purposes of this 
section, the term ``appropriate Congressional committees'' means--
            (1) the Committee on Finance of the Senate;
            (2) the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate;
            (3) the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of 
        Representatives; and
            (4) the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
        Representatives.
                                 &lt;all&gt;
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