SEC. 304. PUBLIC AWARENESS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 6103(k) is amended by 
adding at the end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(10) DISCLOSURE
OF
RECOGNIZED, 
CER-
TIFIED, OR REGISTERED PERSONS; REVOCATION OF 
REGISTRATION.—The Secretary shall furnish to the 
public— 
‘‘(A) the identity of any person who— 
‘‘(i) is an enrolled agent or is an at-
torney or certified public accountant who 
either has a power of attorney on file with 
the Internal Revenue Service or notifies 
the Internal Revenue Service of their sta-
tus as a preparer of Federal tax returns, 
‘‘(ii) is certified under section 330(d) 
of title 31, United States Code, as a tax 
return preparer, or 
‘‘(iii) is registered as a refund delivery 
product facilitator pursuant to section 
7530, and 
‘‘(B) information as to whether or not any 
person who is otherwise suspended or disbarred 
is no longer so recognized, certified, or reg-
istered (as the case may be).’’. 
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(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall take effect not later than two years 
after the date of enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 
305. 
CLARIFICATION 
OF 
TAXPAYER 
ASSISTANCE 
ORDER AUTHORITY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (2) of section 7811(b) 
is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) and 
(D) as subparagraphs (D) and (E), respectively, and 
(2) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol-
lowing new subparagraph: 
‘‘(C) chapter 74 (relating to closing agree-
ments and compromises),’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to orders issued after the date of 
the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 306. TAXPAYER ADVOCATE DIRECTIVES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter A of chapter 80 is 
amended by adding at the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 7812. TAXPAYER ADVOCATE DIRECTIVES. 
‘‘(a) AUTHORITY TO ISSUE.—The National Taxpayer 
Advocate (but not a delegate thereof) may issue a Tax-
payer Advocate Directive to mandate changes to improve 
the operation of a functional process or to grant relief to 
groups of taxpayers (or all taxpayers) if, as a result of 
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the manner in which the internal revenue laws are being 
administered by the Secretary, its implementation will 
protect the rights of taxpayers, prevent undue burden, en-
sure equitable treatment, or provide an essential service 
to taxpayers. The terms of a Taxpayer Advocate Directive 
may require the Internal Revenue Service to implement 
it within a specified period of time. 
‘‘(b) AUTHORITY TO MODIFY OR RESCIND.— 
‘‘(1) APPEAL.—An Internal Revenue Service di-
vision or other function may appeal a Taxpayer Ad-
vocate Directive by delivering a written explanation 
that facilitates a full and fair consideration of the 
issues to the National Taxpayer Advocate and Dep-
uty Commissioner of Internal Revenue, either of 
whom may modify or repeal such Taxpayer Advocate 
Directive. Except as provided in paragraph (2), any 
decision of the Deputy Commissioner with respect to 
such Taxpayer Advocate Directive shall take prece-
dence. 
‘‘(2) FINAL DETERMINATION.—If any such de-
cision of the Deputy Commissioner modifies or re-
peals a Taxpayer Advocate Directive, the National 
Taxpayer Advocate may appeal such decision to the 
Commissioner of Internal Revenue for a final deter-
mination. The Commissioner shall make a final de-
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termination with respect to the Taxpayer Advocate 
Directive, and provide a written explanation of such 
determination and the reasons therefore, not later 
than 90 days after the submission of such appeal.’’. 
(b) ANNUAL REPORT.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Clause (ii) of section 
7803(c)(2)(B) is amended by redesignating sub-
clauses (III) through (XI) as subclauses (IV) 
through (XII), respectively, and by inserting after 
subclause (II) the following new subclause: 
‘‘(III) contain Taxpayer Advocate 
Directives 
issued 
under 
section 
7812;’’. 
(2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Clause (ii) of 
section 7803(c)(2)(B), as amended by paragraph 
(1), is amended— 
(A) by striking ‘‘subclauses (I), (II), and 
(III)’’ in subclauses (V), (VI), and (VII) thereof 
and inserting ‘‘subclauses (I), (II), (III), and 
(IV)’’, and 
(B) in subclause (VIII)— 
(i) by inserting ‘‘or Taxpayer Advo-
cate Directive’’ after ‘‘Taxpayer Assistance 
Order’’, and 
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(ii) by inserting ‘‘or 7812(a)’’ after 
‘‘section 7811(b)’’. 
(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
for subchapter A of chapter 80 is amended by inserting 
after the item relating to section 7811 the following new 
item: 
‘‘Sec. 7812. Taxpayer advocate directives.’’. 
SEC. 307. IMPROVED SERVICES FOR TAXPAYERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—It is the sense of Congress that 
the Internal Revenue Service should within 2 years— 
(1) reduce the time between receipt of an elec-
tronically filed return and issuance of a refund, 
(2) expand assistance to low-income taxpayers, 
(3) allocate resources to assist low-income tax-
payers in establishing accounts at financial institu-
tions that receive direct deposits from the United 
States Treasury, 
(4) deliver tax refunds on debit cards, prepaid 
cards, and other electronic means to assist individ-
uals that do not have access to financial accounts or 
institutions, 
(5) establish a pilot program for satellite walk- 
in centers to be located in rural underserved commu-
nities without easy access to Internal Revenue Serv-
ice Taxpayer Assistance Centers by using office fa-
cilities currently occupied by the Federal Govern-
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ment, including United States Postal Service and 
Social Security Administration facilities; such sat-
ellite walk-in centers should have the capability to 
provide video-conferencing services and scanning or 
other digitizing functions to deliver, in an interactive 
manner, all service and compliance functions cur-
rently available in Internal Revenue Service Tax-
payer Assistance Centers, and 
(6) establish a pilot program for mobile tax re-
turn preparation offices. 
(b) LOCATION OF SERVICE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The mobile tax return filing 
offices should be located in communities that the 
Secretary determines have a high incidence of tax-
payers claiming the earned income tax credit, par-
ticularly in locations with few community volunteer 
tax preparation clinics. 
(2) INDIAN RESERVATION.—At least one mobile 
tax return filing office should be on or near an In-
dian reservation (as defined in section 168(j)(6) of 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986). 
SEC. 308. TAXPAYER ACCESS TO FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Secretary 
of the Treasury may award demonstration project grants 
(including multiyear awards) to eligible entities to provide 
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accounts to individuals who currently do not have an ac-
count with a financial institution. The account would be 
held in a federally insured depository institution. 
(b) PRIORITY.—Priority shall be given to demonstra-
tion project proposals that provide accounts at low or no 
cost and— 
(1) that utilize new technologies such as the 
prepaid product to expand access to financial serv-
ices, in particular for persons without bank ac-
counts, with low access to financial services, or low 
utilization of mainstream financial services, 
(2) that promote the development of new finan-
cial products and services that are adequate to im-
prove access to wealth building financial services, 
which help integrate more Americans into the finan-
cial mainstream, 
(3) that promote education for these persons 
and depository institutions concerning the avail-
ability and use of financial services for and by such 
persons, and 
(4) that include other such activities and 
projects as the Secretary may determine are con-
sistent with the purpose of this section. 
(c) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—An entity is eligible to re-
ceive a grant under this section if such an entity 
is— 
(A) an organization described in section 
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
and exempt from tax under section 501(a) of 
such Code, 
(B) a federally insured depository institu-
tion, 
(C) an agency of a State or local govern-
ment, 
(D) a community development financial in-
stitution, 
(E) an Indian tribal organization, 
(F) an Alaska Native Corporation, 
(G) a Native Hawaiian organization, 
(H) 
an 
organization 
described 
in 
501(c)(5), and exempt from tax under section 
501(a), of such Code, 
(I) a nonbank financial service provider, or 
(J) a partnership comprised of 1 or more 
of the entities described in the preceding sub-
paragraphs. 
(2) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sec-
tion— 
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(A) FEDERALLY INSURED DEPOSITORY IN-
STITUTION.—The term ‘‘federally insured de-
pository institution’’ means any insured deposi-
tory institution (as defined in section 3 of the 
Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 
1813)) and any insured credit union (as defined 
in section 101 of the Federal Credit Union Act 
(12 U.S.C. 1752)). 
(B) COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT
FINAN-
CIAL INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘community de-
velopment financial institution’’ means any or-
ganization that has been certified as such pur-
suant to section 1805.201 of title 12, Code of 
Federal Regulations. 
(C) ALASKA NATIVE CORPORATION.—The 
term ‘‘Alaska Native Corporation’’ has the 
same meaning as the term ‘‘Native Corpora-
tion’’ under section 3(m) of the Alaska Native 
Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1602(m)). 
(D) NATIVE HAWAIIAN ORGANIZATION.— 
The term ‘‘Native Hawaiian organization’’ 
means any organization that— 
(i) serves and represents the interests 
of Native Hawaiians, and 
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(ii) has as a primary and stated pur-
pose the provision of services to Native 
Hawaiians. 
(E) LABOR
ORGANIZATION.—The term 
‘‘labor organization’’ means an organization— 
(i) in which employees participate, 
(ii) which exists for the purpose, in 
whole or in part, of dealing with employers 
concerning 
grievances, 
labor 
disputes, 
wages, rates of pay, hours of employment, 
or conditions of work, and 
(iii) which is described in section 
501(c)(5) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986. 
(F) NONBANK
FINANCIAL
SERVICE
PRO-
VIDER.—The term ‘‘nonbank financial service 
provider’’ means an entity that engages in fi-
nancial services activities, as authorized under 
the Federal Reserve Board, 12 Code of Federal 
Regulations Part 225, Regulation Y. 
(d) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity shall submit an 
application to the Secretary of the Treasury in such form 
and containing such information as the Secretary may re-
quire. 
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(e) EVALUATION AND REPORT.—For each fiscal year 
in which a grant is awarded under this section, the Sec-
retary of the Treasury shall submit a report to Congress 
containing a description of the activities funded, amounts 
distributed, and measurable results, as appropriate and 
available. 
(f) POWER AND AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARY.— 
(1) ASSISTANCE.—Subject to appropriations, 
the Secretary of the Treasury may provide financial 
and technical assistance to awardees for expanding 
the distribution of financial services, including 
through financial services electronic networks. 
(2) RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.—The Sec-
retary of the Treasury may conduct or support such 
research and development as the Secretary considers 
appropriate in order to further the purpose of this 
section, including the collection of information about 
access to financial services. 
(3) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of the 
Treasury is authorized to promulgate regulations to 
implement and administer the program under this 
section. 
(g) STUDY ON DELIVERY OF TAX REFUNDS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treas-
ury, in consultation with the National Taxpayer Ad-
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vocate, shall conduct a study on the feasibility of de-
livering tax refunds on debit cards, prepaid cards, 
and other electronic means to assist individuals that 
do not have access to financial accounts or institu-
tions. This study shall evaluate the methodology and 
results of the pilot program conducted by the Sec-
retary during the 2011 filing season. 
(2) PILOT PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall es-
tablish a pilot program for delivering tax refunds on 
debit cards, prepaid cards, or other electronic means 
and shall consult with the National Taxpayer Advo-
cate in the design and implementation of, and eval-
uation of the results of, any such pilot program. In 
designing this program the Secretary must take into 
consideration the findings of the study conducted 
under paragraph (1). 
(3) 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 con-
taining the results of the study conducted under 
paragraph (1). 
SEC. 309. ADDITIONAL STUDIES. 
(a) STUDY ON ACCELERATED PROCESSING OF IN-
FORMATION RETURNS.— 
(1) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
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(A) Under current procedures, the Internal 
Revenue Service processes income tax returns 
before it processes most information returns, 
including Forms W–2, which report wages and 
tax withholding, and Forms 1099, which report 
interest, dividends, and other payments. 
(B) The sequence described in subpara-
graph (A) makes little logical sense. 
(C) From a taxpayer perspective, the se-
quence leads to millions of cases where tax-
payers inadvertently make overclaims that the 
Internal Revenue Service does not identify until 
months later, exposing the taxpayer not only to 
a tax liability but to penalties and interest 
charges as well. 
(D) From the Federal Government’s per-
spective, this sequence creates opportunities for 
fraud and requires the Internal Revenue Service 
to devote resources to recovering refunds that 
should not have been paid and that it often 
cannot recover. 
(2) STUDY.—The Secretary of the Treasury, in 
consultation with the National Taxpayer Advocate, 
shall conduct a study to identify and recommend leg-
islative and administrative changes that would en-
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able the Internal Revenue Service to receive and 
process information reporting documents before it 
processes tax returns. In conducting the study, the 
Secretary shall consider, among other factors, the 
issues identified in the National Taxpayer Advo-
cate’s 2011 Annual Report to Congress. 
(3) 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 describ-
ing the results of the study conducted under para-
graph (2). 
(b) STUDY ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF COLLECTION 
ALTERNATIVES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treas-
ury, in consultation with the National Taxpayer Ad-
vocate, shall conduct a study to assess the effective-
ness of collection 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 more years ago and 
compare the amount of revenue collected from the 
taxpayers whose offers were accepted with the 
amount of revenue collected from the taxpayers 
whose offers were rejected, and compare, among the 
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taxpayers whose offers were rejected, the amount 
they offered with the amounts collected. 
(2) 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 con-
taining the results of the study conducted under 
paragraph (1). 
SEC. 310. DE NOVO TAX COURT REVIEW OF INNOCENT 
SPOUSE RELIEF DETERMINATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 6015 is amended by re-
designating subsection (h) as subsection (i) and by insert-
ing after subsection (g) the following new subsection: 
‘‘(h) DE NOVO REVIEW OF DETERMINATIONS.—Any 
review of a determination made under this section shall 
be reviewed de novo by the Tax Court.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
this section shall apply to petitions filed or pending before 
the Tax Court on and after the date of the enactment of 
this Act. 
Æ 
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