[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3832 Referred in Senate (RFS)]
<DOC>
114th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 3832
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 17, 2016
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to prevent tax-related
identity theft and tax fraud, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Stolen Identity Refund Fraud
Prevention Act of 2016''.
SEC. 2. CENTRALIZED POINT OF CONTACT FOR IDENTITY THEFT VICTIMS.
The Secretary of the Treasury, or the Secretary's delegate, shall
establish and maintain an office at the Internal Revenue Service and
procedures to ensure that any taxpayer whose return has been delayed or
otherwise adversely affected due to the theft of the taxpayer's
identity has a centralized point of contact throughout the processing
of his or her case. The office shall coordinate with other offices
within the Internal Revenue Service to resolve the taxpayer's case as
quickly as possible.
SEC. 3. TAXPAYER NOTIFICATION OF SUSPECTED IDENTITY THEFT.
(a) In General.--Chapter 77 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is
amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``SEC. 7529. NOTIFICATION OF SUSPECTED IDENTITY THEFT.
``If the Secretary determines that there was an unauthorized use of
the identity of any taxpayer, the Secretary shall--
``(1) as soon as practicable and without jeopardizing an
investigation relating to tax administration, notify the
taxpayer and include with that notice--
``(A) instructions to the taxpayer about filing a
police report; and
``(B) the forms the taxpayer must submit to allow
investigating law enforcement officials to access the
taxpayer's personal information; and
``(2) if any person is criminally charged by indictment or
information relating to such unauthorized use, notify such
taxpayer as soon as practicable of such charge.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 77 of
such Code is amended by adding at the end the following new item:
``Sec. 7529. Notification of suspected identity theft.''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall
apply to determinations made after the date of the enactment of this
Act.
SEC. 4. REPORT ON ELECTRONIC FILING OPT OUT.
The Secretary of the Treasury (or the Secretary's delegate) shall
submit a feasibility study to the Committee on Ways and Means of the
House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate
describing a program under which a person who has filed an identity
theft affidavit with the Secretary may elect to prevent the processing
of any Federal tax return submitted in an electronic format by that
taxpayer or a person purporting to be that taxpayer. The study shall be
submitted within 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act
and should also include a recommendation on whether to implement such a
program.
SEC. 5. USE OF INFORMATION IN DO NOT PAY INITIATIVE IN PREVENTION OF
IDENTITY THEFT REFUND FRAUD.
The Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary's delegate, shall
use the information available under the Do Not Pay Initiative
established under section 5 of the Improper Payments Elimination and
Recovery Improvement Act of 2012 (31 U.S.C. 3321 note) to help prevent
identity theft refund fraud.
SEC. 6. REPORT ON IDENTITY THEFT REFUND FRAUD.
(a) In General.--Not later than September 30, 2018, and biannually
thereafter through September 30, 2023, the Secretary of the Treasury
(or the Secretary's delegate) shall report to the Committee on Ways and
Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of
the Senate on the extent and nature of fraud involving the use of a
misappropriated taxpayer identity with respect to claims for refund
under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 during the preceding completed
income tax filing season, and the detection, prevention, and
enforcement activities undertaken by the Internal Revenue Service with
respect to such fraud, including--
(1) detailing efforts to combat identity theft fraud,
including an update on the victims' assistance unit;
(2) information on both the average and maximum amounts of
time that elapsed before the cases of victims of such fraud
were resolved; and
(3) discussing Internal Revenue Service efforts associated
with other avenues for addressing identity theft refund fraud.
(b) Additional Requirements.--In addition, each report shall
provide an update on the implementation of this Act and identify the
need for any further legislation to protect taxpayer identities.
(c) Progress on Outreach and Education.--In the first biannual
report on identity theft refund fraud under subsection (a), the
Secretary (or the Secretary's delegate) shall include--
(1) an assessment of the agency's progress on identity
theft outreach and education to the private sector, State
agencies, and external organizations; and
(2) the results of a feasibility study on the costs and
benefits to enhancing its taxpayer authentication approach to
the electronic tax return filing process.
SEC. 7. INFORMATION SHARING AND ANALYSIS CENTER.
(a) In General.--The Secretary (or the Secretary's delegate) shall
establish an information sharing and analysis center to centralize,
standardize, and enhance data compilation and analysis to facilitate
sharing actionable data and information with respect to identity theft.
(b) Report.--Not later than 1 year after establishment of the
information sharing and analysis center, the Secretary (or the
Secretary's delegate) shall submit a report to the Committee on Ways
and Means of the House of Representatives and Committee on Finance of
the Senate on the information sharing and analysis center described in
subsection (a). The report shall include the data that was shared, the
use of such data, and the results of the data sharing and analysis
center in combating identity theft.
SEC. 8. LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT LIAISON.
(a) Establishment.--The Commissioner of Internal Revenue shall
establish within the Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal
Revenue Service the position of Local Law Enforcement Liaison.
(b) Duties.--The Local Law Enforcement Liaison shall serve as the
primary source of contact for State and local law enforcement
authorities with respect to tax-related identity theft, having duties
that shall include--
(1) receiving information from State and local law
enforcement authorities;
(2) responding to inquiries from State and local law
enforcement authorities;
(3) administering authorized information-sharing
initiatives with State or local law enforcement authorities and
reviewing the performance of such initiatives;
(4) ensuring any information provided through authorized
information-sharing initiatives with State or local law
enforcement authorities is used only for the prosecution of
identity theft-related crimes and not re-disclosed to third
parties; and
(5) such other duties relating to tax-related identity
theft prevention as are delegated by the Commissioner of
Internal Revenue.
SEC. 9. IRS PHONE SCAM REPORT.
(a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Inspector General for Tax Administration, in
consultation with the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal
Trade Commission, shall submit a report to Congress regarding identity
theft phone scams under which individuals attempt to obtain personal
information over the phone from taxpayers by falsely claiming to be
calling from or on behalf the Internal Revenue Service.
(b) Contents of Report.--Such report shall include--
(1) a description of the nature and form of such scams;
(2) an estimate of the number of taxpayers contacted
pursuant to, and the number of taxpayers who have been victims
of, such scams;
(3) an estimate of the amount of wrongful payments obtained
from such scams; and
(4) details of potential solutions to combat and prevent
such scams, including best practices from the private sector
and technological solutions.
SEC. 10. PROVIDING IDENTITY THEFT PREVENTION INFORMATION WHILE ON HOLD
WITH INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE.
The Secretary of the Treasury, or the Secretary's delegate, shall
ensure that if a taxpayer is on hold with the Internal Revenue Service
on a taxpayer service telephone call the following information is
provided:
(1) Basic information about common identity theft tax
scams.
(2) Directions on where to report such activity.
(3) Tips on how to protect against identity theft tax
scams.
SEC. 11. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED.
No additional funds are authorized to carry out the requirements of
this Act and the amendments made by this Act. Such requirements shall
be carried out using amounts otherwise authorized.
Passed the House of Representatives May 16, 2016.
Attest:
KAREN L. HAAS,
Clerk.