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. HIG-
GINS, Mr. YARMUTH, and Mr. BECERRA) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addi-
tion to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently de-
termined 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE, ETC. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Taxpayer Assistance Act of 2010’’. 
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(b) AMENDMENT OF INTERNAL REVENUE CODE OF 
1986.—Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever 
in this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 
of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provi-
sion, the reference shall be considered to be made to a 
section or other provision of the Internal Revenue Code 
of 1986. 
(c) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 
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 equip-
ment 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-in- 
compromise. 
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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TITLE I—CELL PHONES AND 
ELECTRONIC FILING 
SEC. 101. REMOVAL OF CELLULAR TELEPHONES AND SIMI-
LAR 
TELECOMMUNICATIONS 
EQUIPMENT 
FROM LISTED PROPERTY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (A) of section 
280F(d)(4) (defining listed property) is amended by add-
ing ‘‘and’’ at the end of clause (iv), by striking clause (v), 
and by redesignating clause (vi) as clause (v). 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall apply to taxable years beginning after 
December 31, 2009. 
SEC. 102. ELECTRONIC FILING EXEMPTION FOR RELIGIOUS 
REASONS. 
Paragraph (3) of section 6011(e) (relating to special 
rule for tax return preparers) is amended by adding at 
the end the following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(D) EXEMPTION
FOR
RELIGIOUS
REA-
SONS.—The Secretary may exempt from re-
quirements under subparagraph (A) a tax re-
turn preparer who— 
‘‘(i) is a member of a recognized reli-
gious sect or division thereof, and 
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‘‘(ii) is an adherent of established 
teachings or tenets that do not permit the 
use of magnetic media.’’. 
SEC. 103. ACCELERATE INTEREST ON REFUNDS FOR RE-
TURNS FILED ELECTRONICALLY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (e) of section 6611 
(relating to disallowance of interest on certain overpay-
ments) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(4) SPECIAL RULE.—In the case of any indi-
vidual income tax return relating to income tax filed 
by electronic means, paragraph (1) shall be applied 
by substituting ‘30 days’ for ‘45 days’ each place it 
appears.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
subsection (a) shall apply to taxable years beginning after 
December 31, 2011. 
TITLE II—COLLECTION 
SEC. 201. STUDY ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF COLLECTION 
ALTERNATIVES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treasury 
shall conduct a study to assess the effectiveness of collec-
tion alternatives, especially offers-in-compromise, on long- 
term tax compliance. Such a study shall analyze a group 
of taxpayers who applied for offers-in-compromise 5 or 
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more years ago and compare the amount of revenue col-
lected from the taxpayers whose offers were accepted with 
the amount of revenue collected from the taxpayers whose 
offers were rejected, and compare, among the taxpayers 
whose offers were rejected, the amount they offered with 
the amounts collected. 
(b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury 
shall submit a report to Congress containing the results 
of the study conducted under subsection (a). 
SEC. 202. REPEAL OF PARTIAL PAYMENT REQUIREMENT 
ON 
SUBMISSIONS 
OF 
OFFERS-IN-COM-
PROMISE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7122 is amended by strik-
ing subsection (c) and by redesignating subsections (d), 
(e), (f), and (g) as subsection (c), (d), (e), and (f), respec-
tively. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) Paragraph (3) of section 7122(d) is amend-
ed— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the end of the 
subparagraph (A), 
(B) by striking ‘‘, and’’ at the end of sub-
paragraph (B) and inserting a period, and 
(C) by striking subparagraph (C). 
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(2) Subsection (f) of section 6159 is amended 
by striking ‘‘section 7122(e)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 
7122(d)’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to offers submitted after the date 
of the enactment of this Act. 
TITLE 
III—TAXPAYER 
ASSIST-
ANCE AND PROTECTION IM-
PROVEMENTS 
SEC. 301. REFERRALS TO LOW-INCOME TAXPAYER CLINICS 
PERMITTED. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (c) of section 7526 is 
amended by adding at the end the following new para-
graph: 
‘‘(6) TREASURY
EMPLOYEES
PERMITTED
TO 
REFER TAXPAYERS TO QUALIFIED LOW-INCOME TAX-
PAYER CLINICS.—Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of law, officers and employees of the Depart-
ment of the Treasury may refer taxpayers for advice 
and assistance to qualified low-income taxpayer clin-
ics receiving funding under this section.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
this section shall apply to referrals made after the date 
of the enactment of this Act. 
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SEC. 302. PROGRAMS FOR THE BENEFIT OF LOW-INCOME 
TAXPAYERS. 
(a) VOLUNTEER INCOME TAX ASSISTANCE PRO-
GRAMS.—Chapter 77 (relating to miscellaneous provi-
sions) is amended by inserting after section 7526 the fol-
lowing new section: 
‘‘SEC. 7526A. VOLUNTEER INCOME TAX ASSISTANCE PRO-
GRAMS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may, subject to 
the availability of appropriated funds, make grants to pro-
vide matching funds for the development, expansion, or 
continuation of volunteer income tax assistance programs. 
‘‘(b) VOLUNTEER INCOME TAX ASSISTANCE PRO-
GRAM.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘volunteer 
income tax assistance program’ means a program— 
‘‘(1) which does not charge taxpayers for its re-
turn preparation services, 
‘‘(2) which operates programs to assist low- and 
moderate-income (as determined by the Secretary) 
taxpayers in preparing and filing their Federal in-
come tax returns, and 
‘‘(3) in which all of the volunteers who assist in 
the preparation of Federal income tax returns meet 
the requirements prescribed by the Secretary. 
‘‘(c) SPECIAL RULES AND LIMITATIONS.— 
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‘‘(1) AGGREGATE
LIMITATION.—Unless other-
wise provided by specific appropriation, the Sec-
retary shall not allocate more than $20,000,000 per 
year (exclusive of costs of administering the pro-
gram) to grants under this section. 
‘‘(2) OTHER APPLICABLE RULES.—Rules simi-
lar to the rules under paragraphs (2) through (6) of 
section 7526(c) shall apply with respect to the 
awarding of grants to volunteer income tax assist-
ance programs.’’. 
(b) INCREASE IN AUTHORIZED GRANTS FOR LOW-IN-
COME TAXPAYER CLINICS.—Paragraph (1) of section 
7526(c) (relating to aggregate limitation) is amended by 
striking ‘‘$6,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$20,000,000’’. 
(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) Section 7526(c)(5) is amended by inserting 
‘‘qualified’’ before ‘‘low-income’’. 
(2) The table of sections for chapter 77 is 
amended by inserting after the item relating to sec-
tion 7526 the following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 7526A. Volunteer income tax assistance programs.’’. 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall take effect for authorized grants made 
after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
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SEC. 303. EITC OUTREACH. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 32 (relating to earned in-
come) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection: 
‘‘(n) NOTIFICATION OF POTENTIAL ELIGIBILITY FOR 
CREDIT AND REFUND.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To the extent possible and 
on an annual basis, the Secretary shall provide to 
each taxpayer who— 
‘‘(A) for any preceding taxable year for 
which credit or refund is not precluded by sec-
tion 6511, and 
‘‘(B) did not claim the credit under sub-
section (a) but may be allowed such credit for 
any such taxable year based on return or return 
information (as defined in section 6103(b)) 
available to the Secretary, 
notice that such taxpayer may be eligible to claim 
such credit and a refund for such taxable year. 
‘‘(2) NOTICE.—Notice provided under para-
graph (1) shall be in writing and sent to the last 
known address of the taxpayer.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment 
of this Act. 
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SEC. 304. TAXPAYER NOTIFICATION OF SUSPECTED IDEN-
TITY THEFT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 77 (relating to miscella-
neous provisions), as amended by this Act, is amended by 
adding at the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 
7529. 
NOTIFICATION 
OF 
SUSPECTED 
IDENTITY 
THEFT. 
‘‘If, in the course of an investigation under the inter-
nal revenue laws, the Secretary determines that there was 
or may have been an unauthorized use of the identity of 
the taxpayer or a dependent of the taxpayer, the Secretary 
shall, to the extent permitted by law— 
‘‘(1) as soon as practicable and without jeop-
ardizing such investigation, notify the taxpayer of 
such determination, and 
‘‘(2) if any person is criminally charged by in-
dictment or information with respect to such unau-
thorized use, notify such taxpayer as soon as prac-
ticable of such charge.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
for chapter 77 is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new item: 
‘‘Sec. 7529. Notification of suspected identity theft.’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to determinations made after the 
date of the enactment of this Act. 
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