I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1778 
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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 14, 2015 
Ms. BONAMICI introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Finan-
cial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris-
diction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and the Con-
sumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to regulate tax 
return preparers and refund anticipation payment ar-
rangements, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Tax Refund Protection 
Act of 2015’’. 
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SEC. 2. REGULATION OF TAX RETURN PREPARERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter A of chapter 80 of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at 
the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 7812. REGULATION OF TAX RETURN PREPARERS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall— 
‘‘(1) establish a program to license or certify 
tax return preparers subject to this section, 
‘‘(2) regulate such tax return preparers, and 
‘‘(3) before licensing or certifying a person as 
a tax return preparer subject to this section, require 
that the person demonstrate— 
‘‘(A) good character, 
‘‘(B) good reputation, 
‘‘(C) necessary qualifications to enable the 
person to provide to persons valuable service as 
a tax return preparer, and 
‘‘(D) competency to perform the functions 
of a tax return preparer. 
‘‘(b) AUTHORITY TO IMPOSE A FEE.—The Secretary 
shall require tax return preparers subject to this section 
to pay a reasonable fee for licensing or certification under 
this section. 
‘‘(c) DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary 
shall, by rule, require tax return preparers subject to this 
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section to provide a disclosure statement to taxpayers that 
shall contain statements— 
‘‘(1) identifying the amount of fees such tax re-
turn preparer charges for preparing a Federal in-
come tax return, filing a Federal income tax return, 
or executing a refund anticipation payment arrange-
ment, and 
‘‘(2) identifying the average amount of time in 
which an individual who files a Federal income tax 
return electronically can expect to receive a refund 
by mail, according to information provided by the 
Internal Revenue Service. 
‘‘(d) DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES.—After notice and 
opportunity for a hearing, the Secretary may take any en-
forcement action against a tax return preparer subject to 
this section who— 
‘‘(1) is incompetent, 
‘‘(2) is disreputable, 
‘‘(3) violates regulations prescribed under this 
section, or 
‘‘(4) with intent to defraud, willfully and know-
ingly misleads or threatens a consumer. 
‘‘(e) TAX RETURN PREPARER SUBJECT
TO SEC-
TION.—A tax return preparer is subject to this section if 
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such preparer is not subject to section 330 of title 31, 
United States Code. 
‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 
‘‘(1) TAX
RETURN
PREPARER.—See section 
7701(a)(36) for the definition of a tax return pre-
parer. 
‘‘(2) REFUND
ANTICIPATION
PAYMENT
AR-
RANGEMENT.—The term ‘refund anticipation pay-
ment arrangement’ has the meaning given such term 
by section 1029B(d)(2) of the Consumer Financial 
Protection Act of 2010.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
for subchapter A of chapter 80 of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after the item re-
lated to section 7811 the following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 7812. Regulation of tax return preparers.’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply with respect to returns filed after 
December 31, 2015. 
SEC. 3. REGULATION OF REFUND ANTICIPATION PAYMENT 
INSTRUMENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle B of the Consumer Fi-
nancial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5481 et seq.) 
is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 
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‘‘SEC. 1029B. REGULATION OF REFUND ANTICIPATION PAY-
MENT ARRANGEMENTS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Bureau shall regulate re-
fund anticipation payment arrangements. 
‘‘(b) DISCLOSURE
REQUIREMENTS.—The Bureau 
shall, by rule, require tax return preparers subject to this 
section to provide a disclosure statement to a consumer 
that shall contain statements— 
‘‘(1) identifying the amount of fees for exe-
cuting a refund anticipation payment arrangement; 
‘‘(2) describing, in the case of a refund antici-
pation payment arrangement involving a depository 
account not controlled by the consumer, the dif-
ference in days between the average amount of time 
by which a consumer receives the tax refund (in 
whole or in part) from a refund anticipation pay-
ment arrangement and the average amount of time 
by which a consumer who files a Federal income tax 
return electronically receives the tax refund depos-
ited directly to that consumer’s deposit account by 
the taxing authority; 
‘‘(3) that a refund anticipation payment ar-
rangement is not necessary to receive a tax refund; 
and 
‘‘(4) that, if a consumer does not receive a tax 
refund or the amount of the tax refund is less than 
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the amount anticipated under the refund anticipa-
tion payment arrangement, the consumer may be re-
sponsible for paying any fees and interest associated 
with a refund anticipation payment arrangement. 
‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS UNDER TILA.—The Bureau 
shall issue regulations that, to the extent practicable, re-
quire tax return preparers that enter into a refund antici-
pation payment arrangement to comply with section 128 
of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1638) to the same 
extent as a creditor making a consumer credit transaction 
other than under an open end credit plan. 
‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 
following definitions shall apply: 
‘‘(1) TAX RETURN PREPARER.—The term ‘tax 
return preparer subject to this section’ means a tax 
return preparer (as defined in section 7701(a)(36) 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) who is not 
subject to regulation under section 330 of title 31, 
United States Code. 
‘‘(2) REFUND
ANTICIPATION
PAYMENT
AR-
RANGEMENT.—The term ‘refund anticipation pay-
ment arrangement’ means an arrangement under 
which, in exchange for Federal income tax prepara-
tion services, a consumer agrees to pay a fee or in-
terest upon receipt of the consumer’s tax refund to 
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a tax return preparer, lender, or other affiliated 
lender by— 
‘‘(A) requesting the Federal Government 
to deposit such tax refund, in whole or in part, 
directly into a depository account designated by 
either the consumer or the tax return preparer, 
lender, or other affiliated lender; or 
‘‘(B) directly paying the fee or interest to 
the tax return preparer, lender, or other affili-
ated lender.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer 
Protection Act (12 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.) is amended by 
inserting after the item related to section 1029A the fol-
lowing new item: 
‘‘Sec. 1029B. Regulation of refund anticipation payment arrangement.’’. 
(c) EXCLUSION FOR CERTAIN TAX PREPARERS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1027(d)(1) of such 
Act is amended by striking subparagraph (B). 
(2) 
CONFORMING
AMENDMENTS.—Section 
1027(d) of such Act is further amended— 
(A) in paragraph (1)— 
(i) in the heading, by striking ‘‘AND 
TAX PREPARERS’’; 
(ii) by striking subparagraph (B); 
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(iii) by striking ‘‘authority over’’ and 
all that follows through ‘‘any person’’ and 
inserting ‘‘authority over any person’’; 
(iv) by redesignating clauses (i) and 
(ii) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respec-
tively, and by moving such subparagraphs 
2 ems to the left; 
(v) by redesignating subclauses (I) 
and (II) as clauses (i) and (ii), respec-
tively, and by moving such clauses 2 ems 
to the left; 
(vi) in subparagraph (A) (as redesig-
nated), by inserting ‘‘(except as related to 
tax return preparers pursuant to section 
1029B)’’ after ‘‘tax’’; and 
(vii) in clause (ii) (as redesignated), 
by striking ‘‘; or’’ and inserting a period; 
and 
(B) in paragraph (2)— 
(i) in subparagraph (A)— 
(I) by striking ‘‘paragraph (1)(A) 
or (1)(B)’’ and inserting ‘‘such para-
graph’’; and 
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(II) 
by 
striking 
‘‘paragraph 
(1)(A)’’ each place it appears and in-
serting ‘‘paragraph (1)’’; 
(ii) in subparagraph (C)— 
(I) by striking ‘‘For purposes of 
subparagraphs (A) and (B), a person 
described in paragraph (1)(A)’’ and 
inserting ‘‘A person described in para-
graph (1)’’; and 
(II) by striking ‘‘clause (i) or (ii) 
of paragraph (1)(A)’’ and inserting 
‘‘subparagraph (A) or (B) of para-
graph (1)’’; and 
(iii) in subparagraph (D), by striking 
‘‘described in paragraph (1)(A) or (1)(B)’’. 
SEC. 4. SPLIT REFUNDS MAY INCLUDE TAX RETURN PRE-
PARER. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 6402 of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(m) SPLIT REFUNDS.—An income tax refund re-
quested on a return of Federal income tax prepared by 
an income tax preparer may be split between the preparer 
and the taxpayer in accordance with the split requested 
by the taxpayer on the return, except that the amount des-
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ignated for the preparer may not exceed the amount pre-
scribed by the Secretary by regulation or other guidance. 
A split of an individual income tax return under this sub-
section shall not be treated as disreputable conduct merely 
because the taxpayer requested such split.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall apply with respect to returns for tax-
able years ending after the date of the enactment of this 
Act. 
SEC. 5. REGULATIONS. 
Regulations issued under section 7812 of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986, as added by section 2, and regula-
tions issued under section 1029B of the Consumer Finan-
cial Protection Act of 2010, as added by section 3, should 
be coordinated to the extent practicable. 
Æ 
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