Internal Revenue Service Math and Taxpayer Help Act
Officially: “Internal Revenue Service Math and Taxpayer Help Act” Read the full text
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1Short title
This section would give the Act a short title: the Internal Revenue Service Math and Taxpayer Help Act.
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1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Internal Revenue Service Math and Taxpayer Help Act .
2Improvement of notices of math or clerical error
This section would add detailed content requirements for the notices the IRS sends taxpayers under section 6213(b)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code when it identifies a math or clerical error on a tax return. Each such notice would have to be sent to the taxpayer's last known address. It would have to describe the mathematical or clerical error in comprehensive, plain language, including the type of error, the section of the tax code the error relates to, a description of the nature of the error, and the specific line of the tax return on which the error was made. It would have to include an itemized computation of any direct or incidental adjustment to be made to the return to correct the error, covering any change to the taxpayer's adjusted gross income, taxable income, itemized or standard deductions, nonrefundable credits, credits under sections 24, 25A, 32, 35, or 36B of the tax code, credits for undistributed long-term capital gains claimed on Form 2439, credits for federal taxes paid on fuels claimed on Form 4136, any other refundable credit, income tax, other taxes, total tax, federal income tax withheld or excess tax withheld under sections 3101 or 3201(a) of the tax code, estimated tax payments (including any amount applied from the taxpayer's prior year return), the refund or amount owed, net operating loss carryforwards, and credit carryforwards. The notice would have to include the telephone number for the automated phone transcript service. And the notice would have to display, in bold, 14-point font, immediately next to the taxpayer's address on the first page, the date by which the taxpayer may request to abate the assessment identified in the notice. A notice that lists multiple potential or alternative errors that might apply to the return would not count as specific enough to satisfy this description requirement. But if multiple specific errors apply to the return, the notice should list all of them. Separately, this section would require that whenever the IRS determines that an abatement is due, it must send the taxpayer a notice of the abatement. That notice would have to be sent to the taxpayer's last known address, describe the abatement in comprehensive, plain language, and provide an itemized computation of any adjustment made to the items listed in the math or clerical error notice described above, including any change to any of those items. These new notice requirements would apply to notices sent after the date that is 12 months after this Act is enacted. Within 180 days after enactment, the Secretary of the Treasury (or the Secretary's delegate) would have to set up procedures letting a taxpayer request, in writing, electronically, by telephone, or in person, an abatement by the date displayed on the notice as described above. Within 18 months after enactment, the Secretary of the Treasury (or the Secretary's delegate), in consultation with the National Taxpayer Advocate, would have to run a pilot program sending a statistically significant portion of math or clerical error notices by certified or registered mail with e-signature confirmation of receipt. The Secretary would also have to report to Congress, aggregated by the type of error described in section 6213(g) of the tax code, on the number of math or clerical errors noticed under the pilot program and the dollar amounts involved, the number of tax abatements and the dollar amounts of those abatements, and the effect of the pilot program on how taxpayers responded and on resulting adjustments or abatements to tax. The report would have to draw conclusions about how effective certified mail is, with and without a return receipt, and include any other recommendations for improving taxpayer response rates.
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2. Improvement of notices of math or clerical error (a) In general Section 6213(b)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— (1) by striking errors .—If the taxpayer and inserting “ errors .— (A) In general If the taxpayer , (2) by striking Each notice in the second sentence and inserting Subject to subparagraph (B), each notice , and (3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: (B) Specificity of math or clerical error notice (i) In general The notice provided under subparagraph (A) shall— (I) be sent to the taxpayer’s last known address, (II) describe the mathematical or clerical error in comprehensive, plain language, including— (aa) the type of error, (bb) the section of this title to which the error relates, (cc) a description of the nature of the error, and (dd) the specific line of the return on which the error was made, (III) an itemized computation of any direct or incidental adjustments to be made to the return in correction of the error, including any adjustment to the amount of— (aa) adjusted gross income, (bb) taxable income, (cc) itemized or standard deductions, (dd) nonrefundable credits, (ee) credits under section 24, 25A, 32, 35, or 36B, credits claimed with respect to undistributed long-term capital gains on Form 2439, credits for Federal taxes paid on fuels claimed on Form 4136, and any other refundable credits, (ff) income tax, (gg) other taxes, (hh) total tax, (ii) Federal income tax withheld or excess tax withheld under section 3101 or 3201(a), (jj) estimated tax payments, including amount applied from prior year’s return, (kk) refund or amount owed, (ll) net operating loss carryforwards, or (mm) credit carryforwards, (IV) include the telephone number for the automated phone transcript service, and (V) display the date by which the taxpayer may request to abate any assessment specified in such notice pursuant to paragraph (2)(A), in bold, font size 14, and immediately next to the taxpayer’s address on page 1 of the notice. (ii) No lists of potential errors A notice which provides multiple potential or alternative errors which may be applicable to the return shall not be sufficiently specific for purposes of clause (i)(II); however, if multiple specific errors apply to the return all such errors should be listed. . (b) Notice of abatement Paragraph (2) of section 6213(b) is amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: (C) Notice Upon determination of an abatement pursuant to subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall send notice to the taxpayer of such abatement which— (i) is sent to the taxpayer’s last known address, (ii) describes the abatement in comprehensive, plain language, and (iii) provides an itemized computation of any adjustments to be made to the items described in the notice of mathematical or clerical error, including any changes to any item described in paragraph (1)(B)(i)(III). . (c) Effective date The amendments made by this section shall apply to notices sent after the date which is 12 months after the date of the enactment of this Act. (d) Procedures Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury (or such Secretary's delegate) shall provide for procedures by which a taxpayer may request an abatement pursuant to section 6213(b)(1)(B)(i)(V) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 in writing, electronically, by telephone, or in person. (e) Pilot program Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury (or such Secretary's delegate), in consultation with the National Taxpayer Advocate, shall— (1) implement a pilot program to send a trial number of notices, in an amount which is a statistically significant portion of all such notices, of mathematical or clerical error pursuant to section 6213(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 by certified or registered mail with e-signature confirmation of receipt, and (2) report to Congress, aggregated by the type of error under section 6213(g) of such Code to which the notices relate, on— (A) the number of mathematical or clerical errors noticed under the program and the dollar amounts involved, (B) the number of abatements of tax and the dollar amounts of such abatements, and (C) the effect of such pilot program on taxpayer response and adjustments or abatements to tax, with conclusions drawn about the effectiveness of certified mail, with and without return receipt, and any other recommendations for improving taxpayer response rates.
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