Fair and Accountable IRS Reviews Act in plain language
1: Short 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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1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Fair and Accountable IRS Reviews Act .
2: Procedural 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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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.