On June 10, the House approved by voice vote a new version of an IRS reform bill, the Taxpayer First Act (H.R. 3151), that omits from the prior version Free File language that prevented Senate passage.

The bill was originally approved by the House in April, but Democrats blocked the bill in the Senate over concerns the Free File language would preclude the IRS from establishing its own filing program.

Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), who sponsors H.R. 3151 with Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA), said in a June 7 news release that the bill retains provisions from the previous version to create "an independent means for taxpayers to appeal actions of the IRS, [and limit] the capacity of private debt collectors to target low-income citizens." The bill would also place a limitation on access of non-Internal Revenue Service employees to returns and return information, and includes IRS-related cybersecurity and identity protections and information technology modernization provisions.

The release said that because of concerns about the Free File program, House sponsors agreed to remove the Free File provision and reintroduce the legislation. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has said dropping the Free File language should clear up any objections to the bill in the Senate, where GOP leaders are resistant to devoting floor time to revenue bills and the IRS reform measure would need to be approved by unanimous consent.

The bill is attached.

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ATTACHMENT

IRS Reform Bill