Taxpayer Bill of Rights Act of 2010

Bill: 111-hr-5047
Sponsor: Rep. Becerra, Xavier [D-CA-31]
Introduced: 2010-04-15 in the House
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Accounting and auditing
Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Bank accounts, deposits, capital
Consumer affairs
Department of the Treasury
Financial services and investments
Government information and archives
Government studies and investigations
Insurance industry and regulation
Tax administration and collection, taxpayers

Summary:
action_date: 2010-04-15
text: 
Taxpayer Bill of Rights Act of 2010 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to require the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the National Taxpayer Advocate, to publish a summary statement of taxpayer rights and obligations.
 
Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to develop, expand, or continue volunteer income tax assistance programs to assist low-income taxpayers.
 
Increases the grant funding for low-income taxpayer clinics.
 
Requires the Secretary to: (1) prescribe regulations for the regulation of tax return preparers; (2) require the annual registration of refund delivery product facilitators; and (3) furnish to the public the identity of any person who is an enrolled agent, attorney, or certified public accountant on file with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), who is a tax return preparer, or who is registered as a refund delivery product facilitator.
 
 Applies the penalty for understatements of taxpayer liability by tax return preparers to tax submissions other than tax returns or claims for refunds.
 
Requires the Secretary to make an individualized lien determination before filing a notice of lien and to consider specified factors in making such determination, including the amount due, the value of the taxpayer's equity in property, the taxpayer's compliance history, and extenuating circumstances, if any, that explain the tax delinquency.
 
Prohibits persons licensed to practice before the Department of the Treasury from directly or indirectly offering or providing audit insurance.
 
Authorizes the National Taxpayer Advocate to issue Taxpayer Advocate directives for granting relief to taxpayers.
 
Expresses the sense of Congress that the IRS should take specified steps within two years to improve service to taxpayers.
 
Authorizes the Secretary to award demonstration project grants to provide access to accounts at financial institutions for taxpayers who do not currently have such access.
 
Requires studies to: (1) enable the IRS to receive and process information reporting documents before it processes tax returns; and (2) assess the effectiveness of collection alternatives, especially offers in compromise, on long-term tax compliance. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-04-15
text: Referred to House Financial Services
action_date: 2010-04-15
text: Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2010-04-15
text: Referred to House Ways and Means
action_date: 2010-04-15
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E559)
action_date: 2010-04-15
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2010-04-15
text: Introduced in House