H.R. 474 — Introduced in House

I 118th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 474 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES January 24, 2023Mr. Meuser introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To ensure that employees of the Internal Revenue Service are brought back to their offices until the backlog of tax returns has been eliminated. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Require Employees To Uniformly Return Now Act or the RETURN Act. 2. Bringing IRS employees back to the office (a) In general Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in the case of an applicable employee, such employee shall not be authorized to telework during the period— (1) beginning on the date that is 5 business days after the date of enactment of this Act, and (2) ending on the date on which the Commissioner of Internal Revenue certifies that the processing backlog with respect to income tax returns for all taxable years has been eliminated. (b) Definitions In this section— (1) Applicable employee The term applicable employee means an employee of the Internal Revenue Service who, as of the date of enactment of this Act, is authorized to telework, on a temporary or permanent basis, pursuant to a policy established by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID–19). (2) Telework The term telework has the same meaning given such term under section 6501(3) of title 5, United States Code. 3. Prohibition on obligation of funds until IRS backlog is eliminated Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of the Treasury (or the Secretary’s delegate) may not obligate the funds appropriated to the Internal Revenue Service under section 10301 of the Inflation Reduction Act (Public Law 117–169) until the date described in section 2(a)(2).