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| Acronyms (colloquial) | TFA |
|---|---|
| Enacted by | the 116th United States Congress |
| Citations | |
| Public law | Pub. L. 116–25 (text) (PDF) |
| Statutes at Large | 133 Stat. 981 |
| Codification | |
| Titles amended | 26 U.S.C., the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 |
| Legislative history | |
| |
The Taxpayer First Act (Pub. L. 116–25 (text) (PDF), 133 Stat. 981, enacted July 1, 2019) is a law that makes significant reforms to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
The law revises provisions relating to the IRS, its customer service, enforcement procedures, cybersecurity and identity protection, management of information technology, and use of electronic systems.[1]
Specifically, the law:
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On June 24, 2016, House Republicans published a tax reform blueprint that included the goal of reforming the IRS.[3] In 2017, the House Ways and Means Committee began to schedule public hearings, member events, and roundtables on the topic of tax administration reform.[4][5][6][7] On March 26, 2018, the Ways and Means Committee released the first draft of the Taxpayer First Act.[8] On April 18, 2018, the bill passed the House of Representatives unanimously.[9]
On July 19, 2018, the Senate introduced their own bipartisan IRS reform bill.[10] One week later, Senators Portman and Cardin introduced their own competing IRS reform bill.[11]
Neither of the Senate bills were passed at the conclusion of the 115th Congress.[10][11] As a result, on April 9, 2019, soon after the start of the 116th Congress, the House passed the Taxpayer First Act once again.[12] That bill was expected to pass the Senate, however on April 22, 2019 ProPublica published an exposé heavily criticizing the implementation of the Free File Program, which the bill would codify.[13] The House then removed the Free File provision from the bill,[14] which passed the House and Senate and was then signed by the president.[15]
The IRS created a Taxpayer First Act Office to implement the law's provisions.[16] In January 2021, the IRS published a report to Congress addressing several of the law's provisions, including a new organizational structure.[16]