,i #aacth ,,congress #ast ,session ,h4 ,r4 #eca ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,february #f1 #bjac ,ms4 ,castor of ,florida 7for herself and ,mr4 ,nugent7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,ways and ,means1 and in addition to the ,committee on the ,judiciary1 for a period to be subsequently determined by the ,speaker1 in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned ,a ,,bill ,to prevent identity theft and tax crimes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,tax ,crimes and ,identity ,theft ,prevention ,act4 #b4 ,expedited resolution from ,internal ,revenue ,service for identity theft victims ,not later than #ij days after an individual notifies the ,secretary of the ,treasury that such individual's identity has been misused by another person in connection with the internal revenue laws1 the ,secretary shall1 to the extent practicable1 determine the extent to which the taxpayer's return and return information were affected by such misuse and shall take such actions as are necessary to correct such affected return or return information with respect to such misuse4 #c4 ,disclosure of return and return information in ,federal and ,state prosecution relating to identity fraud 7a7 ,in general ,subsection 7k7 of section #fajc of the ,internal ,revenue ,code of #aihf is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph3 7#aa7 ,disclosure of certain return information in connection with identity theft and fraudulent returns 7,a7 ,in general ,in the case of an investigation pertaining to the misuse of the identity of another person for purposes of filing a false or fraudulent return of tax1 upon receipt of a written request which meets the requirements of subparagraph 7,c71 the ,secretary may disclose return information to officers and employees of any ,federal law enforcement agency1 or any officers and employees of any ,state or local law enforcement agency1 who are personally and directly engaged in the investigation of any crimes implicated in such misuse1 but only if any such law enforcement agency is part of a team with the ,internal ,revenue ,service in such investigation4 7,b7 ,limitation on use of information ,information disclosed under this subparagraph shall be solely for the use of such officers and employees to whom such information is disclosed in such investigation4 7,c7 ,requirements ,a request meets the requirements of this clause if-- 7i7 the request is made by the head of the agency 7or his delegate7 involved in such investigation1 and 7ii7 the request sets forth the specific reason why such disclosure may be relevant to the investigation4 4 7b7 ,conforming amendments 7#a7 ,paragraph 7#b7 of section #fajc7;a7 of such ,code is amended by inserting or 7k77#aa7 after subsection 7i77#g77;,a74 7#b7 ,paragraph 7#d7 of section #fajc7p7 of such ,code is amended in the matter preceding subparagraph 7,a7 by inserting or 7#aa7 after 7k77#aj74 7#c7 ,paragraph 7#b7 of section #gbac7;a7 of such ,code is amended by inserting 7k77#aa71 after 7#g77;,a77i714 7c7 ,effective date ,the amendments made by this section shall apply to disclosures after the date of the enactment of this ,act4 #d4 ,criminal penalty for using a false identity in connection with tax fraud 7a7 ,in general ,section #gbjg of the ,internal ,revenue ,code of #aihf is amended-- 7#a7 by striking ,any person who willfully and inserting the following3 7a7 ,in general ,any person who willfully 1 7#b7 by striking ,any person required and inserting the following3 7b7 ,information in connection with certain exempt organizations ,any person required 1 and 7#c7 by adding at the end the following3 7c7 ,misappropriation of identity ,any person who knowingly or willfully misappropriates another person's tax identification number in connection with any list1 return1 account1 statement1 or other document submitted to the ,secretary shall be fined not less than #be1jjj 7#bjj1jjj in the case of a corporation71 or imprisoned not more than #e years1 or both1 together with the costs of prosecution4 4 7b7 ,effective date ,the amendments made by this section shall apply to returns and information submitted after the date of the enactment of this ,act4 #e4 ,increased penalty for improper disclosure or use of information by preparers of returns 7a7 ,in general ,section #fgac7;a7 of the ,internal ,revenue ,code of #aihf is amended-- 7#a7 by striking #bej and inserting #a1jjj1 and 7#b7 by striking #aj1jjj and inserting #ej1jjj4 7b7 ,criminal penalty ,section #gbaf7;a7 of the ,internal ,revenue ,code of #aihf is amended by striking #a1jjj and inserting #ajj1jjj4 7c7 ,effective date ,the amendments made by this section shall apply to disclosures or uses after the date of the enactment of this ,act4 #f4 ,,pin system for prevention of identity theft tax fraud ,not later than #a year after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 the ,secretary of the ,treasury 7or the ,secretary's delegate7 shall implement an identify theft tax fraud prevention program under which-- 7#a7 a person who has filed an identity theft affidavit with the ,secretary may elect-- 7,a7 to be provided with a unique personal identification number to be included on any ,federal tax return filed by such person1 or 7,b7 to prevent the processing of any ,federal tax return submitted in an electronic format by a person purporting to be such person1 and 7#b7 the ,secretary will provide additional identity verification safeguards for the processing of any ,federal tax return filed by a person described in paragraph 7#a7 in cases where a unique personal identification number is not included on the return4 #g4 ,prevention of fraudulent refunds 7a7 ,in general ,the ,secretary of the ,treasury 7or the ,secretary's delegate7 shall establish a fraudulent tax refund prevention program under which-- 7#a7 additional triggers are added to the refund database to identify potentially fraudulent tax refunds1 and 7#b7 the legitimacy of the refund claim can be promptly determined before the distribution of the refund4 7b7 ,multiple refunds to same debit card ,the additional triggers added under subsection 7a77#a7 shall include identification of requests for multiple refunds to be paid to the same debit card4 #h4 ,authority to transfer ,internal ,revenue ,service appropriations to use for tax fraud enforcement ,for any fiscal year1 the ,commissioner of ,internal ,revenue may transfer not more than #aj1jjj1jjj to the ,enforcement account of the ,internal ,revenue ,service from amounts appropriated to other ,internal ,revenue ,service accounts4 ,any amounts so transferred shall be used solely for the purposes of preventing and resolving potential cases of tax fraud4 #i4 ,local ,law ,enforcement ,liaison 7a7 ,establishment ,the ,commissioner of ,internal ,revenue shall establish within the ,criminal ,investigation ,division of the ,internal ,revenue ,service the position of ,local ,law ,enforcement ,liaison4 7b7 ,duties ,the ,local ,law ,enforcement ,liaison shall-- 7#a7 coordinate the investigation of tax fraud with ,state and local law enforcement agencies2 7#b7 communicate the status of tax fraud cases involving identity theft1 and 7#c7 carry out such other duties as delegated by the ,commissioner of ,internal ,revenue4 #aj4 ,report on tax fraud ,subsection 7a7 of section #ghjc of the ,internal ,revenue ,code of #aihf is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph3 7#d7 ,annual report on tax fraud ,the ,commissioner shall submit to the ,committee on ,finance of the ,senate and the ,committee on ,ways and ,means of the ,house of ,representatives an annual report detailing-- 7,a7 the number of reports of tax fraud and suspected tax fraud received from ,state and local law enforcement agencies in the preceding year1 and 7,b7 the actions taken in response to such reports4 4 #aa4 ,study on the use of prepaid debit cards and commercial tax preparation software in tax fraud 7a7 ,in general ,the ,comptroller ,general shall conduct a study to examine the role of prepaid debit cards and commercial tax preparation software in facilitating fraudulent tax returns through identity theft4 7b7 ,report ,not later than #a year after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 the ,comptroller ,general shall submit to the ,committee on ,finance of the ,senate and the ,committee on ,ways and ,means of the ,house of ,representatives a report with the results of the study conducted under subsection 7a71 together with any recommendations4 #ab4 ,restriction on access to the death master file 7a7 ,in general ,the ,secretary of ,commerce shall not disclose information contained on the ,death ,master ,file to any person with respect to any individual who has died at any time during the calendar year in which the request for disclosure is made or the succeeding calendar year unless such person is certified under the program established under subsection 7b74 7b7 ,certification program 7#a7 ,in general ,the ,secretary of ,commerce shall establish a program to certify persons who are eligible to access the information described in subsection 7a7 contained on the ,death ,master ,file4 7#b7 ,certification ,a person shall not be certified under the program established under paragraph 7#a7 unless the ,secretary determines that such person has a legitimate fraud prevention interest in accessing the information described in subsection 7a74 7c7 ,imposition of penalty ,any person who is certified under the program established under subsection 7b71 who receives information described in subsection 7a71 and who during the period of time described in subsection 7a7-- 7#a7 discloses such information to any other person1 or 7#b7 uses any such information for any purpose other than to detect or prevent fraud1 shall pay a penalty of #a1jjj for each such disclosure or use1 but the total amount imposed under this subsection on such a person for any calendar year shall not exceed #ej1jjj4 7d7 ,exemption from ,freedom of ,information ,act requirement with respect to certain records of deceased individuals 7#a7 ,in ,general ,the ,social ,security ,administration shall not be compelled to disclose to any person who is not certified under the program established under section #i7;b7 the information described in section #i7;a74 7#b7 ,treatment of ,information ,for purposes of section #eeb of title #e1 ,united ,states ,code1 this section shall be considered a statute described in subsection 7b77#c77;,b7 of such section #eeb4 #ac4 ,treasury report on information sharing barriers with respect to identity theft 7a7 ,review 7#a7 ,in general ,the ,secretary of the ,treasury 7or the ,secretary's delegate7 shall review whether current ,federal tax laws and regulations related to the confidentiality and disclosure of return information prevent the effective enforcement of local1 ,state1 and ,federal identity theft statutes4 ,the review shall consider whether greater information sharing between the ,internal ,revenue ,service and ,state and local law enforcement authorities would improve the enforcement of criminal laws at all levels of government4 7#b7 ,consultation ,in conducting the review under paragraph 7#a71 the ,secretary shall solicit the views of1 and consult with1 ,state and local law enforcement officials4 7b7 ,report ,not later than #ahj days after the date of enactment of this ,act1 the ,secretary shall submit a report with the results of the review conducted under subsection 7a71 along with any legislative recommendations1 to the ,committee on ,finance of the ,senate and the ,committee on ,ways and ,means of the ,house of ,representatives4 #ad4 ,grants to investigate and prosecute ,state and local tax crimes 7a7 ,grant program authorized ,the ,attorney ,general is authorized to award grants to ,state and local law enforcement agencies to assist such agencies in the investigation and prosecution of tax crimes4 7b7 ,authorization of appropriations ,for each fiscal year1 there are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section1 from amounts made available in each such fiscal year to carry out the ,edward ,byrne ,memorial ,justice ,assistance ,grants program under part ,e of title ,i of the ,omnibus ,crime ,control and ,safe ,streets ,act of #aifh 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #cgej et seq471 #ej1jjj1jjj4