H.R. 5479 — Introduced in House

I 115th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 5479 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 11, 2018Mr. Walz (for himself and Mr. Kind) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To direct the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service to establish a special unit within the office of Stakeholder Partnership, Education and Communication to provide members of the uniformed services with tax assistance, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Military Taxpayer Assistance Act. 2. Special unit within the office of Stakeholder Partnership, Education and Communication to provide members of the uniformed services with tax assistance (a) Establishment The Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service shall establish a special unit within the office of Stakeholder Partnership, Education and Communication in the Internal Revenue Service. (b) Responsibilities The unit established under subsection (a) shall be responsible for developing and conducting outreach, education, and assistance concerning the tax issues applicable to members of the uniformed services and the organizations that provide tax assistance to these taxpayers. (c) Staffing To the extent possible, the unit established under subsection (a) shall be staffed with veterans. (d) Funding for VITA training overseas The Commissioner shall ensure that ample funding is allocated to the unit established under subsection (a) to provide face-to-face training for the military volunteers providing income tax assistance in overseas locations. 3. Other assistance for members of the uniformed services (a) Toll-Free telephone line The Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service shall establish and maintain a toll-free telephone number for members of the uniformed services and their families to answer tax law and filing questions and to resolve their tax account and compliance issues. (b) Website The Commissioner shall ensure that the information on the website of the Internal Revenue Service relating to military taxpayers is current. 4. Unformed services For purposes of this Act, the term uniformed services has the meaning given such term by section 101(a)(5) of title 10, United States Code.