Reps. Lynn Jenkins (R-KS) and John Lewis (D-GA) released a draft bill this week designed to examine ways to redesign the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
The discussion draft, titled “The Taxpayer First Act,” would seek to improve the taxpayer experience. It would be the first change to IRS in 20 years.
“I ran for Congress to reform our broken tax code and I am honored to have played a part in the most significant tax reform in 30 years. However, tax reform was only half of our promise. Our attention must now turn to modernizing the IRS and improving the taxpayer experience,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins is the chair of the House Oversight Subcommittee while Lewis is the ranking member.
“The Oversight Subcommittee took our time and conducted thoughtful, bipartisan work to improve taxpayer administration. We held eight public hearings and hosted five roundtable discussions on many of the legislative proposals included in this draft bill,” Lewis said.
Lewis said the bill does not repeal the private debt collection program, but it protects low- and middle-income taxpayers from harassment and abuse.
“Overall, this experience reminds me of the way that our committee used to function, and it was wonderful,” Lewis said. “We produced a serious, thoughtful bill that puts the taxpayer first. I am proud of the process and product, and I hope that we will maintain the bipartisan spirit throughout committee and floor consideration.”