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H.R. 5444 (115th): Taxpayer First Act

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About the bill

Source: Republican Policy Committee

H.R. 5444 makes numerous changes to reorganize the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in an attempt to focus the agencies efforts more on taxpayer service. Specifically, the bill does the following:

  • Creates an independent appeals process to improve the dispute resolution process within the agency.
  • Requires the IRS to submit to Congress a comprehensive plan to improve its customer service strategy, based on best practices from the private sector.
  • Requires the IRS to maintain the IRS Free File Program that provides free individual income tax preparation and electronic filing services to the lowest 70 percent of taxpayers by adjusted gross income.
  • Ensures taxpayers have access to the same information as the IRS during the dispute resolution process, in an attempt to level the playing field.
  • Requires the IRS to submit ...

Sponsor and status

Photo of sponsor Lynn Jenkins

Lynn Jenkins

Sponsor. Representative for Kansas's 2nd congressional district. Republican.

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Last Updated: Apr 19, 2018
Length: 93 pages
Introduced
Apr 10, 2018
115th Congress (2017–2019)
Status
Died in a previous Congress

This bill was introduced in a previous session of Congress and was passed by the House on April 18, 2018 but was never passed by the Senate.

Source
Congress.gov

Position statements

What legislators are saying

“Shea-Porter Supports Bipartisan Legislation to Improve IRS”
    — Rep. Carol Shea-Porter [D-NH1, 2017-2018] on Apr 18, 2018

“THIS WEEK IN CONGRESS - April 20, 2018”
    — Rep. Gregorio Sablan [D-MP0] on Apr 23, 2018

“Reichert, House Take First Steps in Reforming the IRS”
    — Rep. David Reichert [R-WA8, 2005-2018] on Apr 18, 2018

More statements at ProPublica Represent...

What stakeholders are saying

R Street Institute SpendingTracker.org estimates H.R. 5444 will save $51 million through 2028.

History

Apr 10, 2018
 
Introduced

Bills and resolutions are referred to committees which debate the bill before possibly sending it on to the whole chamber.

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Apr 11, 2018
 
Ordered Reported

A committee has voted to issue a report to the full chamber recommending that the bill be considered further. Only about 1 in 4 bills are reported out of committee.

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Apr 13, 2018
 
Reported by House Committee on Ways and Means

A committee issued a report on the bill, which often provides helpful explanatory background on the issue addressed by the bill and the bill's intentions.

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Apr 18, 2018
 
Passed House (Senate next)

The bill was passed in a vote in the House. It goes to the Senate next.

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H.R. 5444 (115th) was a bill in the United States Congress.

A bill must be passed by both the House and Senate in identical form and then be signed by the President to become law.

Bills numbers restart every two years. That means there are other bills with the number H.R. 5444. This is the one from the 115th Congress.

This bill was introduced in the 115th Congress, which met from Jan 3, 2017 to Jan 3, 2019. Legislation not enacted by the end of a Congress is cleared from the books.

How to cite this information.

We recommend the following MLA-formatted citation when using the information you see here in academic work:

“H.R. 5444 — 115th Congress: Taxpayer First Act.” www.GovTrack.us. 2018. September 24, 2020 <https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/115/hr5444>

Where is this information from?

GovTrack automatically collects legislative information from a variety of governmental and non-governmental sources. This page is sourced primarily from Congress.gov, the official portal of the United States Congress. Congress.gov is generally updated one day after events occur, and so legislative activity shown here may be one day behind. Data via the congress project.