To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to conform to the intent of the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, as set forth in the joint explanatory statement of the committee of conference accompanying Conference Report 105–599, that the National Taxpayer Advocate be able to hire and consult counsel as appropriate.
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
Passed HouseReceived; read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance
Passed House (inferred from eh version)
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the …
Mr. Feenstra (for himself and Mr. Davis of Illinois) introduced …
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill gives the National Taxpayer Advocate the explicit authority to hire their own lawyers. The Advocate is an independent office within the IRS that helps taxpayers resolve problems with the agency. Currently, there's ambiguity about whether the Advocate can hire legal counsel who report directly to them rather than to IRS management. This bill clarifies that authority and makes it retroactive to 1998.
Who Benefits and How
The Office of the Taxpayer Advocate benefits by gaining greater independence and legal resources. They can now hire attorneys who work directly for them, not for the broader IRS bureaucracy. Taxpayers who seek help from the Advocate's office also benefit indirectly - when the Advocate has their own dedicated legal counsel, they can better fight on behalf of taxpayers in disputes with the IRS.
Who Bears the Burden and How
This is primarily an administrative reorganization, so there's no significant financial burden. The IRS may experience minor administrative costs from implementing the change, but the bill makes the effective date retroactive to 1998, meaning it's meant to codify what Congress originally intended rather than create something entirely new.
Key Provisions
- Explicitly authorizes the National Taxpayer Advocate to appoint legal counsel who report directly to the Advocate or their delegate
- Clarifies that the Advocate's hiring authority extends to all employees in the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate, not just local office staff
- Makes these changes retroactive to 1998, when Congress originally restructured the IRS
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
This bill expands the authority of the National Taxpayer Advocate to directly appoint counsel within the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate.
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Strengthen the independence and operational capacity of the Taxpayer Advocate's office by giving direct hiring authority for legal counsel"
Likely Beneficiaries
- National Taxpayer Advocate
- Taxpayers seeking assistance
- Office of the Taxpayer Advocate
Likely Burden Bearers
- None - primarily administrative/organizational change
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_national_taxpayer_advocate"
- → National Taxpayer Advocate within the IRS
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