BARCODE Efficiency Act
Officially: “BARCODE Efficiency Act” Read the full text
What it does
Read it in plain language
1Short title
This section would let the Act be called the Barcode Automation for Revenue Collection to Organize Disbursement and Enhance Efficiency Act, or the BARCODE Efficiency Act for short.
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1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Barcode Automation for Revenue Collection to Organize Disbursement and Enhance Efficiency Act or the BARCODE Efficiency Act .
2Scanning and digitization of tax returns and correspondence
This section would require that any federal tax return that is prepared electronically but is printed and filed on paper carry a code that, when scanned, converts the return's data into electronic format. It would also require the Internal Revenue Service to use barcode scanning technology to convert the data on such returns into electronic format, except that if the data on a return cannot for any reason be accurately converted this way, the return would instead fall under the optical-character-recognition requirement described next. For any federal tax return that is not prepared electronically and is printed and filed on paper, or that is prepared electronically and printed and filed on paper but whose data cannot for any reason be accurately converted into electronic format, and for any correspondence the IRS receives in paper form (except correspondence already received in electronic format), the IRS would have to use optical character recognition technology, or any functionally similar technology, to transcribe the return or correspondence. These barcode-scanning and optical-character-recognition requirements would not apply to the extent the Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretary's delegate determines that the required technology is slower or less reliable than manually transcribing paper returns or correspondence, or than any other process the IRS is using or would otherwise use, and any such exception could not take effect unless the Secretary first reports the determination to the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance within 30 days of making it. This section would apply to individual income tax returns, as defined in section 6011(e)(3)(C) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, received on or after January 1 of the first calendar year that begins more than 180 days after the Act is enacted; to estate tax returns (under section 6018 of that Code) and gift tax returns (under section 6019 of that Code) received on or after January 1 of the first calendar year that begins more than 24 months after enactment; and to any other return or correspondence received on or after January 1 of the first calendar year that begins more than 12 months after enactment.
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2. Scanning and digitization of tax returns and correspondence (a) Returns prepared electronically and submitted on paper With respect to any Federal tax return which is prepared electronically, but is printed and filed on paper— (1) such return shall bear a code which, when scanned, converts the data included in such return to electronic format, and (2) subject to subsection (b)(1)(B), the Internal Revenue Service shall use barcode scanning technology to convert the data included in such returns to electronic format. (b) Optical character recognition software With respect to— (1) any Federal tax return which— (A) is not prepared electronically and is printed and filed on paper, or (B) is described in subsection (a)(1) but, for any reason, the data included in such return cannot be accurately converted into electronic format, or (2) any correspondence which is received by the Internal Revenue Service in a paper form (with the exception of any such correspondence which has been received by the Internal Revenue Service in electronic format), the Internal Revenue Service shall use optical character recognition technology (or any functionally similar technology) to transcribe such return or correspondence. (c) Exception (1) In general Subsection (a) or (b) shall not apply to the extent that the Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretary’s delegate determines that the technology described in such subsection is slower or less reliable than— (A) the process of manually transcribing returns or correspondence received in a paper form, or (B) any other process that the Internal Revenue Service is using or would otherwise use. (2) Report to congress Any exception to the application of subsection (a) or (b) pursuant to paragraph (1) shall not take effect unless the Secretary provides a report to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate regarding the determination made by the Secretary under such paragraph within 30 days of such determination. (d) Effective date This section shall apply to— (1) any individual income tax return (as defined in section 6011(e)(3)(C) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) received on or after January 1 of the first calendar year beginning more than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, (2) any estate tax return (as described in section 6018 of such Code) or gift tax return (as described in section 6019 of such Code) received on or after January 1 of the first calendar year beginning more than 24 months after the date of enactment of this Act, and (3) any other return or correspondence received on or after January 1 of the first calendar year beginning more than 12 months after the date of enactment of this Act.
Where it is
In the House.