,i  #aagth ,,congress  #b;d ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #gddj  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,april #g1 #bjbb,mrs4
 ,bice of ,oklahoma 7for herself1 ,mr4  
,rogers of ,alabama1 ,mr4 ,meijer1 and  
,mrs4 ,cherfilus-,mc,cormick7 introduced
 the following bill2 which was referred 
to the ,committee on ,ways and ,means   
,a ,,bill  ,to require the ,secretary of
 the ,treasury to establish a plan to   
improve customer service and establish  
new modes of communication with the     
public1 and for other purposes4  #a4    
,short title ,this ,act may be cited as 
the ,,irs ,customer ,service and        
,modernization ,act of #bjbb4  #b4      
,findings2 sense of ,congress  7a7      
,findings ,congress finds the following3
 7#a7 ,the ,internal ,revenue ,service  
is facing unprecedented challenges      
following the outbreak of the           
,,covid-#ai and the ,federal response   
which included significant changes to   
the ,internal ,revenue ,code4  7#b7     
,since that time1 the ,internal ,revenue

 ,service has been under tremendous     
strain with rapidly growing workloads   
and significant staffing challenges4    
7#c7 ,at the beginning of the #bjba tax 
season1 the ,internal ,revenue ,service 
still had approximately #aa4g million   
backlogged returns from tax year #bjbj1 
and it took the ,,irs until ,june of    
#bjba to get through its #bjai backlog4 
7#d7 ,as of ,december #bjba1 the        
,internal ,revenue ,service still had a 
backlog of approximately #f million     
unprocessed individual tax returns4     
7#e7 ,processing delays at the ,internal
 ,revenue ,service have a               
disproportionately negative impact on   
low-income ,americans4  7#f7 ,in fiscal 
year #bjba1 the ,internal ,revenue      
,service received approximately #bhb    
million phone calls1 of which only #aa  
percent or about #cb million were       
actually answered by customer service   
representatives4  7b7 ,sense of         
,congress ,it is the sense of ,congress 
that the ,american people deserve an    

,internal ,revenue ,service that is     
responsive1 efficient1 and precise in   
its actions1 and the ,internal ,revenue 
,service must develop a corrective      
action plan to address key deficiencies4
  #c4 ,corrective action plan required  
to address key deficiencies  7a7 ,in    
general ,not later than #fj days after  
the date of the enactment of this ,act1 
the ,secretary of the ,treasury shall   
develop a written corrective active plan
 to achieve average return of tax       
processing times that do not exceed the 
average of such processing times for    
returns of tax relating to the #e-year  
period ending on ,december #ca1 #bjai4  
,such corrective active plan shall      
include the following3 7#a7 ,quarterly  
goals and benchmarks to achieve such    
processing times not later than the     
beginning of the processing period for  
returns of tax relating to taxable years
 ending on or after ,december #ca1      
#bjbc4  7#b7 ,a list of technological   
upgrades that would improve processing  

times of returns of tax4  7#c7 ,a list  
of human resource policy changes that   
would improve processing of returns of  
tax1 including-- 7,a7 a list of ways to 
increase productivity of staff working  
remotely as the result of ,,covid-#ai1  
and  7,b7 a strategy to improve         
recruitment and retention4  7#d7 ,an    
estimate of the cost of maintaining and 
operating existing taxpayer information 
processing technology4  7#e7 ,an        
estimate of the total annual cost of    
protecting the computer systems of the  
,internal ,revenue ,service from cyber  
intrusion4  7#f7 ,an analysis on how    
much the ,internal ,revenue ,service has
 paid in interest to taxpayers as a     
result of backlogs in processing returns
 of tax that were submitted after ,march
 #ac1 #bjbj4  7#g7 ,a plan to address   
backlogs in the ,error ,resolution      
,system to reduce the need for manual   
processing1 including-- 7,a7 rapid      
identification of math errors and       
immediate notification to the taxpayer1 

7,b7 improvements to processing times   
for taxpayer correspondence1 and  7,c7  
an analysis of options to improve       
taxpayer correspondence to include      
expanding taxpayer awareness and use of 
online accounts to send and receive     
secure correspondence4  7#h7 ,an        
analysis of new ,customer ,relationship 
,management software options to improve 
taxpayer inquiry tracking4  7#i7 ,an    
analysis of options to improve taxpayer 
access to in-person meetings with the   
,taxpayer ,advocate ,service and the    
,internal ,revenue ,service1            
particularly in areas with significant  
backlogs of requests for such meetings4 
7#aj7 ,a strategy to prevent inaccurate 
correspondence to taxpayers and tax     
practitioners4  7b7 ,publication and    
submission to ,congress ,the ,secretary 
of the ,treasury shall publish the      
corrective active plan required under   
subsection 7a7 on the website of the    
,internal ,revenue ,service and shall   
submit such corrective active plan to   

the ,committees on ,ways and ,means1    
,appropriations1 and ,oversight and     
,reform of the ,house of                
,representatives and to the ,committees 
on ,finance and ,appropriations of the  
,senate4  #d4 ,internal ,revenue        
,service modernization of communications
 ,not later than #ahj days after the    
date of the enactment of this ,act1 the 
,secretary of the ,treasury shall       
improve communication with the public   
by-- 7#a7 expanding the capacity of the 
practitioner priority service to respond
 to certified public accountants acting 
on behalf of a client1  7#b7            
establishing a chat function on the     
website of the ,internal ,revenue       
,service on which a taxpayer can get a  
quick answer to a basic question that   
does not require the exchange of        
personally identifiable information1 and
  7#c7 establishing an online scheduling
 tool to allow taxpayers to schedule    
virtual meetings1 phone calls1 and      
in-person meetings4