Press Releases

Today, Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) lauded the passage of her bipartisan legislation, the 21st Century IRS Act, which modernizes Internal Revenue Service (IRS) technology while also protecting the identities of taxpayers. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Mike Bishop (R-MI), passed the House by a vote of 414 to 3. 

“There’s no reason for the IRS to have not entered the digital age by now, and this bill is an important step in the right direction. As we saw yesterday, technology is critical for any government agency to be able to do its job effectively. We can’t afford to have our nation’s tax administrators using fax machines and IT systems dating back over half a century,” said DelBene. “I’m pleased Congress has realized it’s time for the IRS to start catching up to the 21st century. The American people deserve to have an IRS that’s technically strong to ensure they are protected from fraud and have access to user-friendly, reliable services.”

The 21st Century IRS Act would: 

• Require the IRS to develop an internet portal that would facilitate taxpayers filing Forms 1099 phased in beginning in 2020.
• Codify recent efforts of the IRS, through the Security Summit, to foster a partnership [with public and private stakeholders] aimed at combatting identity theft tax refund fraud.  
• Authorize the IRS to develop an automated system to request transcripts under the Income Verification Express Service (IVES) system. To cover the costs for developing the system, six months after enactment, the IRS is authorized to assess and collect a separate user fee over a two-year period on all IVES requests.
• Allow the IRS to directly accept credit and debit card payments for taxes, provided that the fee is paid by the taxpayer.
• Require Treasury to work with private industry to find ways to utilize new payment platforms and increase the amount of tax refunds delivered electronically.  

DelBene serves on the House Ways and Means Committee. Her floor remarks on the 21^st Century IRS Act can be viewed here.