H.R. 531: Tax Crimes and Identity Theft Prevention Act

Introduced:
Feb 06, 2013 (113th Congress, 2013–2015)
Sponsor:
Rep. Kathy Castor [D-FL14]
Status:
Referred to Committee

The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. H.R. stands for House of Representatives bill.

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Status

This bill was assigned to a congressional committee on February 6, 2013, which will consider it before possibly sending it on to the House or Senate as a whole.

Progress
Introduced Feb 06, 2013
Referred to Committee Feb 06, 2013
Reported by Committee ...
Passed House ...
Passed Senate ...
Signed by the President ...
Prognosis

1% chance of getting past committee.
0% chance of being enacted.

Only 11% of House bills made it past committee and only 3% were enacted in 2011–2013. [show factors | methodology]

Cosponsors
5 cosponsors (4D, 1R) (show)
Committees

House Judiciary

↪ Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations

House Ways and Means

The committee chair determines whether a bill will move past the committee stage.

Full Title

To prevent identity theft and tax crimes.

Summary

No summaries available.

Text

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Last updated Feb 06, 2013.
12 pages

Primary Source

View on THOMAS (The Library of Congress)

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Citation

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GovTrack’s Bill Summary

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Library of Congress Summary

The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.

2/6/2013--Introduced.
Tax Crimes and Identity Theft Prevention Act - Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to take necessary action to correct a tax return or tax information affected by the misuse of a taxpayer's identity within 90 days after receiving notice of such misuse from the taxpayer.
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to:
(1) authorize the Secretary to disclose tax return information to federal, state, and local law enforcement personnel who are personally and directly engaged in the investigation of identity theft;
(2) impose a fine and/or prison term on any person who knowingly or willfully misappropriates another person's tax identification number;
(3) increase the civil and criminal penalties for improper disclosure or use of tax information by tax return preparers; and
(4) require the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to report to Congress on the number of reported tax fraud cases and on actions taken in response to such reports.
Directs the Secretary to:
(1) implement an identity theft tax fraud prevention program that provides for a unique personal identification number (PIN) on tax returns;
(2) establish a fraudulent tax refund prevention program that adds additional triggers to the refund database to identify potentially fraudulent tax refunds; and
(3) review whether current federal tax law prevents the effective enforcement of local, state, and federal identity theft statutes.
Authorizes the Commissioner to transfer appropriated funds to be used solely to prevent and resolve potential tax fraud cases.
Directs the Commissioner to establish in the Criminal Investigation Division of the IRS the position of Local Law Enforcement Liaison to coordinate the investigation of tax fraud with state and local law enforcement agencies.
Directs the Comptroller General to study and report on the role of prepaid debit cards and commercial tax preparation software in facilitating fraudulent tax returns through identity theft.
Prohibits the Secretary of Commerce from disclosing information contained on the Death Master File relating to a deceased individual to persons who are not certified to access such information.
Authorizes the Attorney General to award grants to state and local law enforcement agencies for the investigation and prosecution of tax crimes.

House Republican Conference Summary

The summary below was written by the House Republican Conference, which is the caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives.

No summary available.

House Democratic Caucus Summary

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The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:

United States Code

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