In a letter to the House of Representatives, the American Institute of CPAs has endorsed four bipartisan bills, all of which have received overwhelming support in the House. These bills, which were also included in the recent Senate discussion draft, will improve transparency and fairness for taxpayers and are strongly supported by the AICPA.
The AICPA applauds the unanimous passage in the House of the following bills:
- H.R. 1152, the Electronic Filing and Payment Fairness Act, sponsored by Representatives Darin LaHood (R-IL), Suzan Delbene (D-WA), Randy Feenstra (R-IA), Brad Schneider (D-IL), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Jimmy Panetta (D-CA). This bill applies the “mailbox rule” to electronically submitted tax returns and payments to allow the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to record payments and documents submitted to the IRS electronically on the day the payments or documents are submitted instead of when they are received or reviewed at a later date. The AICPA believes this would offer clarity and simplification to the payment and document submission process while protecting taxpayers from undue penalty.
- H.R. 998, the Internal Revenue Service Math and Taxpayer Help Act, sponsored by Representatives Randy Feenstra (R-IA) and Brad Schneider (D-IL), which would require notices describing a mathematical or clerical error be made in plain language, and require the Treasury Secretary to provide additional procedures for requesting an abatement of a math or clerical error adjustment, including by telephone or in person, among other provisions.
- H.R. 517, the Filing Relief for Natural Disasters Act (FRNDA), sponsored by Representatives David Kustoff (R-TN) and Judy Chu (D-CA). The process of receiving tax relief from the IRS following a natural disaster must follow a federal disaster declaration, which can come weeks after a state disaster declaration. The FRNDA would provide the IRS with authority to grant tax relief once the governor of a state declares either a disaster or a state of emergency and expand the mandatory federal filing extension under section 7508(d) from 60 days to 120 days, providing taxpayers with additional time to file tax returns following a disaster.
- H.R. 1491, the Disaster related Extension of Deadlines Act (DREDA), sponsored by Representatives Gregory Murphy (R-NC) and Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), would extend the amount of time disaster victims would have to file for a tax refund or credit (i.e., the lookback period) by the amount of time afforded pursuant to a disaster relief postponement period for taxpayers affected by major disasters. This legislative solution would place taxpayers on equal footing as taxpayers not impacted by major disasters and would afford greater clarity and certainty to taxpayers and tax practitioners regarding this lookback period.
“The AICPA has long supported these proposals and will continue to work to advance comprehensive legislation that enhances IRS operations and improves the taxpayer experience,” said Melanie Lauridsen, Vice President of Tax Policy & Advocacy for the AICPA. “We are pleased to work closely with each of these Representatives on common-sense reforms that will benefit taxpayers, tax practitioners and tax administration and we’re encouraged by their passage in the House. We look forward to continuing to work with Congress to improve the taxpayer experience.”
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Tags: Taxes
