HR2556-118

Introduced

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to improve and promote transparency, efficiency and operational integrity of the Internal Revenue Service, and for other purposes.

118th Congress Introduced Apr 10, 2023

Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.

Summary

What This Bill Does

This bill limits IRS enforcement powers and funding while expanding privacy protections for taxpayers and nonprofit organizations. It requires the IRS to publish annual tax gap projections and restricts new enforcement spending until those reports are submitted.

Who Benefits and How

  • Tax-exempt nonprofit organizations benefit from reduced reporting requirements (threshold raised from $5,000 to $50,000) and no longer need to disclose contributor names to the IRS
  • Individual taxpayers with income under $400,000 are protected from increased audit activity
  • Private sector tax professionals gain new fellowship opportunities at the IRS with competitive pay
  • Political advocacy groups are protected from IRS targeting based on ideological beliefs

Who Bears the Burden and How

  • IRS employees and unions face restrictions on union activity during tax filing season (Feb 12 - April 15)
  • Tax preparers and IRS employees face significantly higher penalties ($250,000 vs. previous $5,000) for unauthorized disclosure of taxpayer information
  • The IRS as an agency faces funding restrictions and additional reporting requirements

Key Provisions

  • Raises nonprofit reporting threshold from $5,000 to $50,000 and eliminates donor disclosure requirements
  • Restricts IRS enforcement funding until annual tax gap projections are published
  • Prohibits auditing taxpayers with income under $400,000
  • Creates IRS Fellowship Program to recruit private sector tax experts
  • Requires transparency reporting on improper tax payments

Evidence Chain:

This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.

At a Glance

What This Bill Does

Restricts IRS enforcement funding, expands privacy protections for taxpayers and nonprofit organizations, and establishes transparency requirements for tax gap projections and improper payments.

Key Policy Areas

Taxation, Government Administration, Civil Liberties, Nonprofit Organizations

Primary Purpose

Restricts IRS enforcement funding, expands privacy protections for taxpayers and nonprofit organizations, and establishes transparency requirements for tax gap projections and improper payments.

Policy Domains

Taxation Government Administration Civil Liberties Nonprofit Organizations

Title I - Preventing Weaponization of the Internal Revenue Service

Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
  • Tax-exempt nonprofit organizations
  • Political advocacy groups
  • Taxpayers concerned about privacy
Model: N/A | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: ih

Contextual inference, no direct clause citation

Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
  • IRS employees and unions
  • Tax preparers who violate privacy rules
Model: N/A | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: ih

Contextual inference, no direct clause citation

Title II - Tax Gap Projection and Enforcement

Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
  • Individual taxpayers with AGI under $400,000
  • Small businesses
  • Private sector tax professionals
  • Political and ideological organizations
Model: N/A | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: ih

Contextual inference, no direct clause citation

Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
  • IRS enforcement division
  • High-income tax evaders
  • Offshore tax evaders
Model: N/A | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: ih

Contextual inference, no direct clause citation

Title III - Improper Tax Payments

Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
  • Taxpayers
  • Congress
  • Government oversight bodies
Model: N/A | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: ih

Contextual inference, no direct clause citation

Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
  • IRS administration
  • Recipients of improper tax refunds
Model: N/A | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: ih

Contextual inference, no direct clause citation

Legislative Progress

Introduced
Introduced Committee Passed
Apr 10, 2023

Mrs. Harshbarger introduced the following bill; which was referred to …

Stakeholder Effects

cui bono?

How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.

Government
20 mentions across 13 clauses
+4 positive -15 negative ?1 uncertain

Congress, Congress (Ways and Means, Finance), Congress (oversight committees)

Positive-direction: Congress, Congress (Ways and Means, Finance), Congress (oversight committees), Congress and OMB

Negative-direction: IRS employee unions, IRS employees represented by unions, IRS employees who handle taxpayer data, IRS enforcement and oversight, IRS enforcement division, IRS enforcement operations, Internal Revenue Service, Internal Revenue Service leadership, Joint Committee on Taxation, Treasury Department, Treasury Department and IRS, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration

General Public
10 mentions across 9 clauses
+8 positive -2 negative

Complex tax case subjects and offshore evaders, General public and oversight groups, High-income nonfilers

Positive-direction: General public and oversight groups, High-income tax evaders, Individual taxpayers, Individual taxpayers with AGI under $400,000, Potential targets of IRS audits, Taxpayers receiving IRS payments, Taxpayers seeking IRS services, Taxpayers subject to NRP audits

Negative-direction: Complex tax case subjects and offshore evaders, High-income nonfilers

Political Organizations
2 mentions across 2 clauses
+2 positive

Political advocacy groups and donors, Political and ideological organizations

Professional Services
2 mentions across 2 clauses
+1 positive -1 negative

Private sector tax professionals (CPAs, attorneys), Tax preparers and return preparers

Positive-direction: Private sector tax professionals (CPAs, attorneys)

Negative-direction: Tax preparers and return preparers

Nonprofits
1 mention across 1 clause
+1 positive

Tax-exempt 501(c) organizations

Small Business
1 mention across 1 clause
+1 positive

Small businesses with bank accounts

Large Corporations
1 mention across 1 clause
-1 negative

Large corporations subject to audits

14/15
sections analyzed
Full impact breakdown

Bill Structure & Actor Mappings

Who is "The Secretary" in each section?

Domains
Taxation Civil Liberties Nonprofit Organizations
Actor Mappings
"the_commissioner"
→ Commissioner of Internal Revenue
Domains
Taxation Government Administration
Actor Mappings
"the_secretary"
→ Secretary of the Treasury
"the_commissioner"
→ Commissioner of Internal Revenue
"the_chief_counsel"
→ Chief Counsel of the Internal Revenue Service
"the_comptroller_general"
→ Comptroller General of the United States
Domains
Taxation Government Administration
Actor Mappings
"the_secretary"
→ Secretary of the Treasury
"the_commissioner"
→ Commissioner of Internal Revenue
"treasury_inspector_general"
→ Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration

Key Definitions

Terms defined in this bill

2 terms
"improper tax payment" §302

Any credit or refund of an overpayment of a tax imposed under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 that should not have been made or that was made in an incorrect amount

"tax gap" §201(d)

The difference between tax liabilities owed to the United States under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and those liabilities actually collected by the Internal Revenue Service

We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.

Learn more about our methodology