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US Congress · H.R. 5346 · Passed the House

Fair and Accountable IRS Reviews Act

Introduced
Moved
Reached a final decision
Introduced 2025-09-15
Derived from the official record below.

Officially: “Fair and Accountable IRS Reviews Act Read the full text

Taxation

What it does

Fair and Accountable IRS Reviews Act This bill provides that an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employee’s immediate supervisor for purposes of approving certain federal tax penalties is the person to whom such employee reports. The bill also provides that an immediate supervisor’s approval of certain federal tax penalties must be obtained (in writing) before any written communication related to such penalties is sent to the taxpayer. As background, current law requires that the initial determination by an IRS employee to assess certain federal tax penalties be approved (in writing) by such emp
Summary by the Congressional Research Service, from the official record. Plain-language version below. Not legal advice.

Read it in plain language

AI plain language2 sections
Written by AI from the complete official bill text and independently fact-checked against it. Not legal advice.
1Short title

This section gives the Act its short title, the Fair and Accountable IRS Reviews Act. It does not create any legal requirement on its own.

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Official text, verbatim from the record

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Fair and Accountable IRS Reviews Act .

2Procedural requirements for assessment of penalties

This section would rewrite the IRS penalty approval rule in section 6751(b)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code. Under the rewritten rule, no penalty under the Internal Revenue Code could be assessed or entered unless the initial determination to assess it is personally approved in writing by the immediate supervisor of the IRS employee who made that determination, or by a higher-level official the Secretary of the Treasury designates. That written approval would have to happen before any written communication about the penalty, including a proposed adjustment reflecting the penalty, is sent to the taxpayer. The section would also add a definition to section 6751(b): for purposes of this approval requirement, the immediate supervisor of the employee who made the determination means the person to whom that employee reports. These changes would apply to notices issued and penalties assessed after December 31, 2025.

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Official text, verbatim from the record

2. Procedural requirements for assessment of penalties (a) Approval of assessment Section 6751(b)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows: (1) In general No penalty under this title shall be assessed or entered unless, before any written communication with respect to such penalty (including proposal of a penalty as an adjustment) is sent to the taxpayer, the initial determination of such assessment is personally approved (in writing) by the immediate supervisor of the individual making such determination or such higher level official as the Secretary may designate. . (b) Immediate supervisor defined Section 6751(b) of such Code is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: (3) Immediate supervisor For purposes of this subsection, the term immediate supervisor means, with respect to an individual making a determination under paragraph (1), the person to whom such individual reports. . (c) Effective date The amendments made by this subsection shall apply to notices issued, and penalties assessed, after December 31, 2025.

AI plain languageRead the whole bill in plain language, 2 sections

Where it is

Introduced · 2025-09-15

In the House.

Passed the House · 2025-12-01
Senate floor vote · next · the next step

Official documents

The on-site text is shown verbatim from the GovInfo publication, captured 2026-07-23. The same version at GovInfo.

The numbers

29%
of bills that passed one chamber became law in the 118th Congress, 2023 to 2024 (n=939)
2
sponsors, out of 218 needed to pass

Who is lobbying on this

NFIB (NATIONAL FEDERATION OF INDEPENDENT BUSINESS)via NFIB (NATIONAL FEDERATION OF INDEPENDENT BUSINESS)
4 filings
SMALL BUSINESS & ENTREPRENEURSHIP COUNCIL (SBE COUNCIL)via SMALL BUSINESS & ENTREPRENEURSHIP COUNCIL (SBE COUNCIL)
2 filings
From 6 filings in federal lobbying disclosures (LDA), via lda.gov, naming this bill (2025 to 2026). Filings are self-reported by lobbying firms and show who is paid to influence this bill. They do not say which side, or whether it worked.
Every fact on this page links to its source, starting with the official bill record. Last action: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (2025-12-02).