Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, and Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., have released a discussion draft of legislation that they say makes "common-sense fixes" to the Internal Revenue Service.
The draft bill, the Taxpayer Assistance and Service Act, would, among other measures, simplify foreign bank account report compliance so that fewer taxpayers will fail to file key forms, upgrade the IRS’ “Where’s my Refund?” and “Where’s my Amended Return?” tools, and establish a dashboard on IRS.gov to would provide taxpayers with more specific information on backlogs and phone wait times.
Proposals in the discussion draft "largely reflect nonpartisan legislative proposals recommended by the National Taxpayer Advocate, as well as standalone tax administrative bills introduced by congressional members," according to Wyden and Crapo.
“As the tax filing season gets underway, this draft legislation suggests practical ways to improve the taxpayer experience,” Crapo and Wyden said. “These adjustments to the laws governing IRS procedure are designed to facilitate communication between the agency and taxpayers, streamline processes for tax compliance and disputes and ensure taxpayers have access to timely expert assistance.”
The draft bill, "several years in the making, would significantly strengthen taxpayer rights in nearly every facet of tax administration,” added Erin Collins, the National Taxpayer Advocate. “I encourage taxpayers and the tax professional community to carefully review the draft and provide feedback to refine it, and I encourage Congress to prioritize the passage of this common-sense bill to ensure stronger protections for taxpayers and a more fair and transparent tax system."
The legislation would also facilitate IRS plans to digitize returns and correspondence and establish deadlines.
"Manual data entry contributes to IRS processing backlogs," the draft bill states. "The proposal would require that returns prepared electronically, but printed and filed on paper, include a code that the IRS could digitize by scanning. It would also require the IRS to transcribe paper returns and correspondence that do not include a code using scanning technology."
Tax Filing Season Is Open
The IRS opened the 2025 tax filing season Monday and is accepting and processing federal individual returns for tax year 2024. IRS systems have already received millions of tax returns for processing, the agency announced.
The IRS said it expects more than 140 million individual tax returns for tax year 2024 to be filed ahead of the April 15 federal deadline.
"More than half of all tax returns are expected to be filed this year with the help of a tax professional, and the IRS urges people to use a trusted tax pro to avoid potential scams and schemes," the agency said.
Taxpayers residing in a federally declared disaster area may have additional time to file and pay federal taxes.
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.