WASHINGTON—The House voted to advance two more tax-related bills that are part of a group of bipartisan bills passed earlier by the House Ways and Means Committee.
The bills are designed to protect taxpayers and improve accountability at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), CUNA said.
The Taxpayer First Act (HR 5444) includes several measures designed to protect taxpayers from unfair practices and improve IRS operations. It includes provisions related to suspected or actual “structuring transactions” and their treatment under the Bank Secrecy Act.
HR 5444 would only allow the IRS to pursue the seizure or forfeiture of assets if either the property to be seized was derived from an illegal source or the transactions were structured to conceal a violation of a criminal law or regulation other than rules against structuring, CUNA explained.
The legislation also includes post-seizure procedures.
The 21st Century IRS Act (HR 5445) aims to provide improved transparency, accountability and information security at the IRS, CUNA said.
Specifically, it would:
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Require the Treasury, IRS and Bureau of Fiscal Service to consult with financial institutions and submit a report describing how the IRS can utilize new payment methods and platforms to increase the number of tax refunds that can be paid by electronic funds transfer
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Require the Treasury to create a website to allow people to prepare, file and distribute Form 1099s and maintain a record of completed and submitted 1099s
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Require the Treasury to implement an automated, Internet-based, real-time system for taxpayer information for third-party income verification
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Allow the Treasury to ease current mandatory electronic filing based on the number of returns required to be filed by a taxpayer in a given taxable period
- Allow direct payment of taxes by taxpayers using payment cards, but require that those taxpayers are as responsible as possible for any fees assessed through these payments and card processing contracts