IRS Equal Treatment Act of 2013

Bill: 113-hr-2683
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Griffin, Tim [R-AR-2]
Introduced: 2013-07-11
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Accounting and auditing

Business expenses

Civil actions and liability

Department of the Treasury

Evidence and witnesses

Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management

Government ethics and transparency, public corruption

Government information and archives

Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
Latest action: action_date: 2013-07-11
text: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.

Summaries:
action_date: 2013-07-11
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p>IRS Equal Treatment Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) require each officer and employee of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to substantiate any expense incurred in carrying out official duties and responsibilities, (2) make IRS officers and employees jointly and severally liable for all expenses for which substantiation requirements are not met, and (3) require the Inspector General for Tax Administration of the Department of the Treasury to report annually on a review of the expense substantiation records required by this Act. </p>

tv_txt: I 113th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 2683 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES July 11, 2013 Mr. Griffin of Arkansas (for himself, Mr. Brady of Texas , Mr. Tiberi , Mr. Reichert , Mr. Roskam , Mr. Young of Indiana , and Mr. Reed ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to impose recordkeeping requirements on the Internal Revenue Service to substantiate costs incurred in carrying out its responsibilities.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the IRS Equal Treatment Act of 2013 . 2. Imposition of recordkeeping requirements on the Internal Revenue Service to substantiate costs incurred in carrying out its responsibilities (a) In general Section 7804 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following: (d) Substantiation required (1) In general With respect to incurring any expense in the course of carrying out official duties and responsibilities, each officer and employee of the Internal Revenue Service shall substantiate by adequate records or by sufficient evidence corroborating the officer’s or employee’s own statement— (A) the amount of such expense or other item, (B) the time and place of any travel, entertainment, amusement, recreation, or use of any facility or property, (C) the business purpose of such expense or other item, and (D) the business relationship to the Internal Revenue Service of persons entertained or using the facility or property. (2) Joint and several liability for failure to meet recordkeeping requirement (A) In general Any officer or employee of the United States who fails to meet the requirements of section 7804(d), and any officer or employee of the United States who authorized the program, project, or activity in which an officer or employee fails to meet the requirements of section 7804(d), shall be jointly and severally liable for all expenses with respect to which such requirements were not met. (B) Burden of proof If the officer and employee of the Internal Revenue Service provides credible evidence with respect to any factual issue relevant to ascertaining the liability of the officer or employee for any failure described in paragraph (1), the Secretary shall have the burden of proof with respect to such issue. (3) Regulations The Secretary may by regulations provide that some or all of the requirements of the preceding sentence shall not apply in the case of an expense which does not exceed an amount prescribed pursuant to such regulations. Such regulations shall be substantially similar to the regulations under section 274(d). (4) Qualified nonpersonal use of vehicle This subsection shall not apply to any qualified nonpersonal use vehicle (as defined in section 274(i)). . (b) Annual audit of records Subsection (d) of section 7803 of such Code is amended by striking and at the end of subparagraph (F), by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (G) and inserting ; and , and inserting after subparagraph (G) the following: (H) a review of the expense substantiation records required by section 7804(d). . (c) Effective date The amendments made by this section shall apply with respect to expenses incurred and items procured after 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.