,,ii #aahth ,,congress #ast ,session ,s4 #cch ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,february #i1 #bjbc,mr4 ,thune 7for himself1 ,mr4 ,grassley1 ,mr4 ,barrasso1 ,mrs4 ,blackburn1 ,mr4 ,cassidy1 ,mr4 ,cornyn1 ,mr4 ,crapo1 ,mr4 ,daines1 ,mr4 ,johnson1 ,mr4 ,lankford1 ,mr4 ,scott of ,south ,carolina1 ,mr4 ,tillis1 and ,mr4 ,young7 introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on ,finance ,a ,,bill ,to provide accountability for funding provided to the ,internal ,revenue ,service and the ,department of ,treasury under ,public ,law #aag-afi4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,,irs ,funding ,accountability ,act4 #b4 ,annual comprehensive spending plan for increased ,internal ,revenue ,service resources 7a7 ,limitation on funding 7#a7 ,initial plan 7,a7 ,in general ,none of the funds described in paragraph 7#c7 may be obligated during the period-- 7i7 beginning on the date of the enactment of this ,act2 and 7ii7 ending on the date that is #fj days after the spending plan described in subsection 7b77#a77;,a7 has been submitted4 7,b7 ,additional moratorium ,if ,congress enacts a joint resolution of disapproval described in subsection 7c7 with respect to the ,internal ,revenue ,service spending plan before the date described in subparagraph 7,a77ii71 then-- 7i7 the ,commissioner of ,internal ,revenue shall submit a new spending plan under subsection 7b77#a77;,a72 and 7ii7 the period described in subparagraph 7,a7 shall not end before the date that is #fj days after such new spending plan is submitted4 7#b7 ,subsequent submissions 7,a7 ,in general ,none of the funds described in paragraph 7#c7 may be obligated during any period-- 7i7 beginning on the date ,congress has enacted a joint resolution of disapproval under subsection 7c7 with respect to any spending plan described in subsection 7b77#a77;,b72 and 7ii7 ending on the date that is #fj days after the date on which the ,commissioner of ,internal ,revenue has submitted a new spending plan under such subsection4 7,b7 ,additional moratorium ,if ,congress enacts a joint resolution of disapproval described in subsection 7c7 with respect to any new spending plan submitted under subparagraph 7,a77ii7 before the date that is #fj days after the date on which such new spending plan has been submitted1 then-- 7i7 the ,commissioner of ,internal ,revenue shall submit an additional new spending plan under subsection 7b77#a77;,b72 and 7ii7 the period described in subparagraph 7,a7 shall not end before the date that is #fj days after such additional new spending plan is submitted4 7#c7 ,funds described ,the funds described in this paragraph are the following3 7,a7 ,any funds made available under clause 7ii71 7iii71 or 7iv7 of section #ajcja7a77;,a7 of ,public ,law #aag-afi4 7,b7 ,any funds made available under section #ajcja7a77;,a77i7 of ,public ,law #aag-afi other than funds used for the following purposes3 7i7 ,eliminating any correspondence or return processing backlog4 7ii7 ,reducing call wait times for taxpayers and tax professionals4 7b7 ,annual comprehensive spending plan 7#a7 ,in general 7,a7 ,initial plan ,not later than #fj days after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 the ,commissioner of ,internal ,revenue shall submit to the appropriate ,congressional committees a spending plan described in paragraph 7#b74 7,b7 ,subsequent submissions 7i7 ,in general ,for each fiscal year beginning after the plan described in subparagraph 7,a7 is submitted and ending with fiscal year #bjca1 the ,commissioner of ,internal ,revenue shall submit to the appropriate ,congressional committees a spending plan described in paragraph 7#b7 on the date that the ,president submits the budget required under section #aaje7;a7 of title #ca1 ,united ,states ,code4 7ii7 ,reduction in appropriation 7,i7 ,in general ,in the case of any failure to submit a plan required under clause 7i7 by the date that is #g days after the date the plan is required to be submitted and1 the amounts made available under section #ajcja7a77;,a77ii7 of ,public ,law #aag-afi shall be reduced by #aj1jjj1jjj for each day after such required date that report has not been submitted4 7,,ii7 ,required date ,for purposes of this clause1 the term required date means1 with respect to any plan required under this subparagraph1 the date that is #g days after such plan is required to be submitted4 7#b7 ,spending plan 7,a7 ,in general ,a spending plan described in this subparagraph is a plan that-- 7i7 details how the funds appropriated under section #ajcja7a7 of ,public ,law #aag-afi will be spent over-- 7,i7 the period consisting of the current fiscal year and the next #d fiscal years ending before fiscal year #bjcb2 and 7,,ii7 the period of consisting of the current fiscal year through the fiscal year ending with fiscal year #bjca 7if such period includes any period not described in subclause 7,i772 7ii7 contains the information described in subparagraph 7,b72 7iii7 has been reviewed by-- 7,i7 the ,internal ,revenue ,service ,advisory ,council2 7,,ii7 the ,comptroller of the ,united ,states2 7,,iii7 the ,national ,taxpayer ,advocate2 and 7,,iv7 the ,director of the ,office of ,management and ,budget2 and 7iv7 has been approved by the ,director of the ,office of ,management and ,budget4 7,b7 ,plan contents ,the information described in this paragraph is the following3 7i7 ,a detailed explanation of the plan1 including-- 7,i7 costs and results to date1 actual expenditures of the prior fiscal year1 actual and expected expenditures of the current fiscal year1 upcoming deliverables and expected costs1 and total expenditures2 7,,ii7 clearly defined objectives1 timelines1 and metrics for quantitatively measuring the plan's annual progress1 including with respect to measuring improvements in taxpayer services1 revenue collection1 information technology1 cybersecurity1 and taxpayer data protections2 and 7,,iii7 a description of any differences between metrics described in subclause 7,,ii7 and corresponding metrics used by the ,national ,taxpayer ,advocate1 the ,comptroller ,general of the ,united ,states1 and ,treasury ,inspector ,general for ,tax ,administration4 7ii7 ,a detailed analysis of the performance of the ,internal ,revenue ,service with respect to the delivery of taxpayer services1 including-- 7,i7 the ,level of ,service 7,,los7 of phone lines 7as a percent of phone calls answered by an ,internal ,revenue ,service employee1 not to include courtesy disconnects or automated call backs72 7,,ii7 the median and average wait time to speak to a representative of the ,internal ,revenue ,service2 7,,iii7 the amount of unprocessed taxpayer correspondence1 including tax returns1 responses to ,internal ,revenue ,service notices1 tax payments1 and other similar types of correspondence2 and 7,,iv7 the median and average length of time for processing the items described in subclause 7,,iii7 and processing refund claims4 7iii7 ,an analysis identifying any increase or decrease in total annual audits and annual audit rates by income group for the period beginning in #bjah and ending with the year the report is submitted4 ,such analysis shall include a detailed description of what constitutes an audit by the ,internal ,revenue ,service1 and if the definition of an audit used by the ,internal ,revenue ,service differs from the definition used by the ,national ,taxpayer ,advocate1 the ,comptroller ,general of the ,united ,states1 or the ,treasury ,inspector ,general for ,tax ,administration1 there shall also be included an analysis using such divergent definition4 7iv7 ,a categorizing of the number of audits for each year in the analysis described in clause 7iv7 which were-- 7,i7 correspondence audits2 7,,ii7 office audits2 7,,iii7 field audits2 7,,iv7 audits under the ,internal ,revenue ,service ,national ,research ,program2 and 7,v7 other audits4 7v7 ,a description of all taxpayer compliance actions or initiatives undertaken using funding appropriated under section #ajcja7a77;,a7 of ,public ,law #aag-afi that do not rise to the level of an audit1 with each action broken out by the total number of such actions undertaken for each income group and as a percentage of taxpayers in each income group4 7vi7 ,an explanation of any unresolved or outstanding recommendations made by the ,government ,accountability ,office and ,treasury ,inspector ,general for ,tax ,administration pertaining to taxpayer-data privacy protections1 ,internal ,revenue ,service taxpayer services1 and ,internal ,revenue ,service technology modernization efforts that are addressed by the plan and a description of how they are addressed4 7vii7 ,for any recommendations identified by ,government ,accountability ,office and ,treasury ,inspector ,general for ,tax ,administration as high risk or priority that are not addressed in the plan1 an explanation of why such recommendations are not addressed in the plan4 7#c7 ,testimony of relevant officials ,not later than #cj days after any spending plan described in paragraph 7#b7 has been submitted1 the ,secretary of the ,treasury and the ,commissioner of ,internal ,revenue shall testify in person before any of the appropriate ,congressional committees that request their testimony with respect to such spending plan4 7#d7 ,requirement to notify of excess spending ,the ,commissioner of ,internal ,revenue shall immediately notify the appropriate ,congressional committees if actual obligations and expenditures for any account for any period for which projections are made in a plan submitted under paragraph 7#b7 exceed the amount of obligations and expenditures projected for such account in such plan by #e percent or more4 7c7 ,joint resolution of disapproval of the ,,irs comprehensive spending plan 7#a7 ,in general ,for purposes of this section1 the term joint resolution of disapproval of the ,,irs comprehensive spending plan means only a joint resolution introduced in the period beginning on the date on which a spending plan submitted pursuant to subsection 7b77#a77;,a7 is received by the appropriate ,congressional committees and ending #fj days thereafter 7excluding days either ,house of ,congress is adjourned for more than #c days during a session of ,congress71 the matter after the resolving clause of which is as follows3 8,that ,congress disapproves the plan submitted on by the ,internal ,revenue ,service relating to the comprehensive spending plan under section #b7;b77#a7 of the ,,irs ,funding ,accountability ,act with respect to fiscal year 404 7,the blank spaces being appropriately filled in74 7#b7 ,application of ,congressional ,review ,act disapproval procedures 7,a7 ,in general ,the rules of section #hjb of title #e1 ,united ,states ,code1 shall apply to a joint resolution of disapproval of the ,,irs comprehensive spending plan in the same manner as such rules apply to a joint resolution described in subsection 7a7 of such section4 7,b7 ,exercise of rulemaking authority ,this section is enacted by ,congress-- 7i7 as an exercise of the rulemaking power of the ,senate and ,house of ,representatives1 respectively1 and as such it is deemed a part of the rules of each ,house1 respectively1 but applicable only with respect to the procedure to be followed in that ,house in the case of a joint resolution of disapproval of the ,,irs comprehensive spending plan described in paragraph 7#a71 and it supersedes other rules only to the extent that it is inconsistent with such rules2 and 7ii7 with full recognition of the constitutional right of either ,house to change the rules 7so far as relating to the procedure of that ,house7 at any time1 in the same manner1 and to the same extent as in the case of any other rule of that ,house4 #c4 ,quarterly reports 7a7 ,internal ,revenue ,service 7#a7 ,in general ,not later than #ad days after the last day of each calendar quarter beginning during the applicable period1 the ,commissioner of ,internal ,revenue shall submit to the appropriate ,congressional committees a report on any expenditures and obligations of funds appropriated under section #ajcja7a7 of ,public ,law #aag-afi4 7#b7 ,matters included ,the report provided under paragraph 7#a7 shall include the following3 7,a7 ,a plain language description of the specific actions taken by the ,commissioner of ,internal ,revenue utilizing any funds appropriated under section #ajcja7a7 of ,public ,law #aag-afi4 7,b7 ,the obligations and expenditures during the quarter of funds appropriated under section #ajcja7a7 of ,public ,law #aag-afi and the expected expenditure of such funds in the subsequent quarter1 including a comparison of obligations and expenditures between amounts spent for taxpayers services and amounts spent for examinations and collections by each division or office of the ,internal ,revenue ,service1 including the ,large ,business and ,international ,division1 the ,small ,business_/,self ,employed ,division1 the ,tax-,exempt and ,government ,entities ,division1 the ,wage and ,investment ,division1 the ,criminal ,investigation ,office1 the ,whistleblower ,office1 and the ,office of the ,taxpayer ,advocate4 7,c7 ,a description of any new full-time or full-time equivalent 7,,fte7 employees1 contractors1 or other staff hired by the ,internal ,revenue ,service1 including the number of new hires1 the primary function or activity type of each new hire1 and the specific ,division or ,office to which each new hire is tasked4 7,d7 ,the number of new employees that have passed a security clearance compared to the number of new employees hired to a position requiring a security clearance1 along with an indication of whether any new employee that has not passed a security clearance or suitability determination has access to taxpayer return information 7as defined by section #fajc7;b77#b7 of the ,internal ,revenue ,code of #aihf74 7,e7 ,a detailed description of any violation of the fair tax collection practices described in section #fcjd of the ,internal ,revenue ,code of #aihf by any employees1 contractors1 or other staff described in subparagraph 7,c7 7including violations tracked in ,automated ,labor and ,employee ,relations ,tracking ,system 7,,alerts7 of the ,human ,capital ,office of the ,internal ,revenue ,service74 7,f7 ,the status of recommendations provided by the ,government ,accountability ,office and ,treasury ,inspector ,general for ,tax ,administration which have been identified as being addressed by a spending plan under section #b7;b77#a71 including whether the implementation of such recommendations has been completed1 is in progress1 or is open 7including the expected date of completion for any recommendations identified as in progress or open74 7#c7 ,reduction in appropriation ,in the case of any failure to submit a report required under paragraph 7#a7 by the required date1 the amounts made available under section #ajcja7a77;,a77ii7 of ,public ,law #aag-afi shall be reduced by #a1jjj1jjj for each day after such required date that report has not been submitted4 7b7 ,department of ,treasury 7#a7 ,in general ,not later than #ad days after the last day of each calendar quarter beginning during the applicable period1 the ,secretary of the ,treasury shall submit to the appropriate ,congressional committees a report containing the following information3 7,a7 ,a plain-language description of the actions taken by the ,secretary of the ,treasury utilizing any funds appropriated under paragraph 7#a71 7#c71 or 7#e7of section #ajcja of ,public ,law #aag-afi4 ,any action which is described in a report made under subsection 7a7 may be described by reference to the action in such report4 7,b7 ,a detailed description of the specific purposes to which the funds appropriated under section #ajcja7c7 of ,public ,law #aag-afi has been 7or is expected to be7 obligated4 7,c7 ,a description of any new full-time or full-time equivalent 7,,fte7 employees1 contractors1 or other staff hired by the ,secretary utilizing funds appropriated under section #ajcja of ,public ,law #aag-afi1 including the number of new hires and whether the duties of each new hire includes any functions related to the ,internal ,revenue ,service 7including implementation of tax policies1 enforcement1 regulations1 research1 press or communications1 or other purposes74 7,d7 ,a detailed description and explanation of any changes to the most recent ,priority ,guidance ,plan of the ,department of the ,treasury and the ,internal ,revenue ,service involving guidance projects that utilize any funds appropriated under section #ajcja of ,public ,law #aag-afi or which are related to the implementation of any provision of or amendment made by such ,public ,law4 7,e7 ,a description of any new initiatives planned to be undertaken by the ,department of the ,treasury within the existing or subsequent fiscal year which will 7or may7 utilize funds appropriated under section #ajcja of ,public ,law #aag-afi4 7#b7 ,reduction in appropriation ,in the case of any failure to submit a report required under paragraph 7#a7 by the required date-- 7,a7 the amounts made available under paragraphs 7#c7 of section #ajcja of ,public ,law #aag-afi shall be reduced by #fff1ffg for each day after such required date that report has not been submitted1 and 7,b7 the amounts made available under paragraphs 7#e7 of section #ajcja of ,public ,law #aag-afi shall be reduced by #ccc1ccc for each day after such required date that report has not been submitted1 and 7c7 ,definitions ,for purposes of this section-- 7#a7 ,applicable period ,the term applicable period means the period beginning after the date the plan under section #b7;b77#a77;,a7 is required to be submitted and ending on ,september #cj1 #bjca4 7#b7 ,required date ,the term required date means1 with respect to any report required to be submitted under subsection 7a7 or 7b71 the date that is #g days after the date the report is required to be submitted4 #d4 ,appropriate ,congressional committees defined ,for purposes of this ,act1 the term appropriate ,congressional committees means-- 7#a7 the ,committee on ,finance of the ,senate2 7#b7 the ,committee on ,appropriations of the ,senate2 7#c7 the ,committee on ,ways and ,means of the ,house of ,representatives2 and 7#d7 the ,committee on ,appropriations of the ,house of ,representatives4