House Committee Plans Vote on IRS Legislation

The House Ways and Means Committee plans to markup and vote Wednesday on four pieces of Republican-sponsored legislation aimed at limiting the Internal Revenue Service’s authority over its spending, particularly in the areas of employee bonuses, hiring, and delegation of user fees.

The first bill, H.R. 3724, Ensuring Integrity in the IRS Workforce Act of 2015, sponsored by Rep. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., would prohibit the IRS from rehiring employees who were fired for misconduct.

Another piece of legislation, H.R. 4890, IRS Bonuses Tied to Measurable Metrics, sponsored by Rep. Pat Meehan, R-Pa., would prohibit the IRS from paying bonuses to employees until the Treasury Secretary develops and implements a comprehensive customer service strategy that “puts taxpayers first.”

The third bill, H.R. 4885, IRS Oversight While Eliminating Spending Act of 2016, sponsored by Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., would repeal the IRS’s current authority to spend the user fees it collects without congressional approval. The proposed legislation would restore to Congress full authority over how the IRS spends those resources. The proposal requires the Treasury to deposit the funds from user fees into a general fund that would be used for improving taxpayer services.

The final piece of legislation, H.R. 1206, No Hires for the Delinquent IRS Act, sponsored by Rep. David Rouzer, R-N.C., would suspend the hiring of new IRS employees unless the Treasury Secretary certifies that no IRS employees have serious delinquencies with respect to their own tax obligations.