[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 60 (Tuesday, April 19, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H1825-H1827]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PROVIDING INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE PUBLICATION 17 FREE TO TAXPAYERS
Mrs. NOEM. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the
resolution (H. Res. 673) expressing the sense of the House of
Representatives that the Internal Revenue Service should provide
printed copies of Internal Revenue Service Publication 17 to taxpayers
in the United States free of charge.
The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
The text of the resolution is as follows:
H. Res. 673
Whereas each year, Internal Revenue Service Publication 17,
entitled ``Your Federal Income Tax'', provides individuals
with general instructions on how to file their tax returns
for the previous taxable year;
Whereas in each year prior to 2015, free printed versions
of Internal Revenue Service Publication 17 were made widely
available to taxpayers at libraries, post offices, and
taxpayer service offices, and even by mail at the request of
a taxpayer;
Whereas the Internal Revenue Service no longer disseminates
a free printed version of Internal Revenue Service
Publication 17 as it transitions to a fully electronic tax
filing system, including an electronic system for providing
instructions on filing tax returns;
Whereas the Internal Revenue Service directs taxpayers to
the Internet to download an electronic version of Internal
Revenue Service Publication 17, even though the limited
availability of a printed version of this publication burdens
individuals who do not have access to a computer or printer
and individuals who struggle to navigate a computer;
Whereas the dissemination of printed copies of Internal
Revenue Service Publication 17 is a basic taxpayer service
that the Internal Revenue Service is ignoring;
Whereas the Internal Revenue Service should prioritize its
resources on areas that are critical to the ability of
taxpayers to file their tax returns in a timely and proper
manner;
Whereas the decision of the Internal Revenue Service to
stop disseminating printed copies of Internal Revenue Service
Publication 17 adversely impacts populations that do not have
access to, or understand how to use, a computer, and the
decision unnecessarily burdens and restricts the ability of
taxpayers to comply with the convoluted and complicated
provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; and
Whereas Internal Revenue Service Publication 17 is clear
evidence of the need for comprehensive tax reform that
simplifies the Internal Revenue Code so that individuals can
complete their tax returns and pay their taxes without
needing the nearly 300 pages of instructions that currently
make up Publication 17: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives urges the
Internal Revenue Service to--
(1) resume printing copies of Internal Revenue Service
Publication 17; and
(2) provide free copies of such publication to the
taxpayers of the United States.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
South Dakota (Mrs. Noem) and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Levin)
each will control 20 minutes.
[[Page H1826]]
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from South Dakota.
General Leave
Mrs. NOEM. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks
and to include extraneous material on H. Res. 673, currently under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from South Dakota?
There was no objection.
Mrs. NOEM. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise in support of H. Res. 673, and I thank the gentleman from
Wisconsin (Mr. Grothman) for introducing it.
The resolution is simple. It expresses a sense of the House that the
IRS should make the individual income tax instructions widely available
to Americans, free of charge.
Mr. Speaker, the Tax Code is broken. It is too long, too complicated,
too confusing, and too old. Taxpayers spend somewhere around 6 billion
hours in complying with our Nation's confusing tax laws, and they spend
over $30 billion on computer programs and professional tax preparation
just to figure these documents out. It is absurd, and the solution is
fundamental tax reform.
My colleagues and I have been working hard to simplify the Tax Code
and make it fairer for American workers and families, but it is a long
and a difficult process. As we work toward this comprehensive solution
that we need, the best thing that we can do is to make sure Americans
have the information they need to comply with the law.
The Taxpayer Bill of Rights reads that taxpayers have the right to be
informed about how to comply with Federal tax law. This is something
the IRS' Publication 17 document--or the individual income tax form
instructions--says taxpayers have a right to as well. As we move more
and more to electronic tax filing, this is a promise the IRS is
abandoning in some cases. While e-filing may be an attainable goal for
some, there are millions of Americans who are without the access or the
ability to find the information online or to make sense of it.
Recently, the IRS stopped making the income tax services available to
libraries, post offices, and taxpayer service offices. Instead, it
requires a taxpayer to order a copy and then to pay for it. This is
unacceptable.
The IRS, like many agencies, has faced reductions in budgetary
allocations due to sequestration, but it is important to remember that
budget reductions require prioritizations within an agency. Providing
Americans with free access to the instructions that are necessary to
file taxes should be a priority for the IRS.
Until we have a fairer, a simpler, and a flatter Tax Code, we need to
make sure the people have the information they need to file their taxes
correctly. H. Res. 673 expresses the sense of the House of
Representatives that the Internal Revenue Service should provide U.S.
taxpayers with free printed copies of IRS Publication 17, which is
entitled, ``Your Federal Income Tax'' and provides individuals with
general instructions for filing tax returns.
I strongly urge my colleagues to support this resolution.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
This is ``bashing the IRS and its 80,000 employees'' week, but the
two bills here today are very minor additions. Tomorrow and Thursday
are the real problem proposals and the real culprits. They are the ones
that really curtail the ability of the IRS to provide adequate service.
Let me say just a few words about this bill.
It urges the IRS to make available printed copies of IRS Publication
17, as has been said--the tax guide for individuals--free of charge to
taxpayers. According to the IRS, printing and shipping copies of this
publication cost them more than $500,000 last year.
Will the Republicans fund this important service for taxpayers? No.
Better yet, will they increase funding for customer services broadly,
like answering taxpayer phone calls or investing in cybersecurity to
prevent fraud? No.
Instead, Republicans have cut the IRS' budget by close to $1 billion
since 2010. As a consequence of those cuts, the state of the IRS'
customer service today is inexcusable. If Republicans want the IRS to
improve the services they provide to taxpayers, they need to provide
adequate funding for the IRS. They need to increase it instead of
cutting it as they have in previous years.
This bill is also a distraction from the Republicans' inability to
act on what really matters: the budget bill, the Flint bill--in terms
of responding to the crisis there--and the Puerto Rico legislation.
In part because this is, simply, a sense of Congress, it is, more or
less, innocuous except in its saying to the IRS: Pay yourselves--the
IRS--for the printing and the shipping--$500,000 it cost last year--
while, at the same time, the Republicans say: We are not going to
provide the funding necessary for customer services. There is that
total inconsistency.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. NOEM. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Grothman).
Mr. GROTHMAN. Mr. Speaker, one of the frustrating things about the
Federal Government is that it acts without realizing the hardship it is
causing other people.
The reason for this bill is that, recently, the IRS decided not to
publish in paper form Publication 17, which is a necessary publication
for anybody who has a moderately difficult income tax return to
prepare. There are two classes of people who are affected by this--
first of all, the people who do their own returns.
Like many other agencies, the IRS only looks at the costs that it is
directly imposing on the citizenry. It doesn't look at the costs it is
indirectly imposing on the citizenry. In this country, the average cost
of a professionally prepared tax return is easily over $200. If we
turned around and billed everybody $200 from the government, obviously,
we couldn't pass that bill around here; but because of the complexity
of our Internal Revenue Code and of people having to go out and pay
that $200, we don't associate it with a tax, but it makes people poorer
just as if we had directly increased their taxes. When you don't
provide copies of instructions for a tax return, you are punishing
people who are trying to save that $200, $250, $300 by doing their own
returns.
Secondly, you are disproportionately affecting people who cannot
navigate the Internet as well--in other words, our older population. It
just seems offensive--as you have older people out there, some who are
not familiar with the Internet--saying: No. No. We won't go with paper
for now. That, again, is kind of--I guess I will call it--elitism on
the part of the IRS because it doesn't need the paper form. It is
saying the 75- or 80-year-old who is still doing his return doesn't
need the form.
We are, therefore, asking for this bill to be passed and are asking
the IRS to, one more time, have sympathy for the people who may not
have the additional $200, $250, $300 to pay a professional preparer and
for the older citizens who may not be comfortable preparing their
return online.
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute.
I have listened. Here is the problem.
Under your rule, the IRS has been receiving less money than it
needs--$900 million less than in 2011. You come here, and you
complain--when you are really the source of the complaints, in large
measure--of the people who can't access the booklet or who can't get
through on the telephone. You are the cause of so much of this
difficulty, and you come here and complain. You need to put the money
behind your complaints. Do that.
I reserve the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to direct their remarks
to the Chair.
Mrs. NOEM. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Benishek).
Mr. BENISHEK. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 673, a
commonsense bill that expresses the support of Congress for having the
IRS continue to provide taxpayers with a paper copy of instructions on
how to file their taxes.
I thank Representative Grothman for introducing this resolution and
for giving us the opportunity to discuss this important issue during
tax week.
[[Page H1827]]
I hear from constituents all the time about how difficult it is to
access paper tax forms, let alone how hard it is to file their taxes.
Every year, millions of people continue to file their taxes on paper,
but, every year, the IRS continues to make this process even more
difficult.
As the IRS has transitioned to preferring an electronic filing
system, many of my constituents are getting left behind. Not everyone
is easily able to get access to paper forms on their own. The response
that my constituents receive when they ask for help from the IRS is
that all of the forms are easily available online. Unfortunately, more
than 25 percent of all Americans lack regular or easy access to the
Internet, and over 50 percent of seniors do not own a computer. Other
people just want to file by paper. We need to preserve this option.
Beyond the accessibility concerns, we hear more and more about the
dangers of electronic data security and tax fraud--dangers which are
exacerbated by e-filing. Many of my constituents want to avoid these
threats to their personal information, and the IRS is actively
hindering them from taking sensible precautions.
I actually introduced legislation--the PAPER Act--in this Congress,
which would require the IRS to send filing instructions and tax forms
in paper format if someone traditionally files his taxes by paper. This
seems pretty easy to me. While many of my constituents have concerns
about how complicated their taxes are or about how high their rates
are, they want to pay their taxes. We should not be keeping them from
doing so.
I urge all of my colleagues to support this simple resolution. I
think, if the IRS would stop going after individuals about their
politics, they would have plenty of money with which to send out the
forms.
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
I respect the gentleman from Michigan, my colleague, who talks about
it becoming more difficult. The reason it is more difficult to reach
the IRS on the phone or to, perhaps, get the forms is due to the
failure of the Congress, under the Republican majority, to provide
adequate resources for customer service. That is the long and short of
this.
When we had a chance, we did add several hundred million dollars to
the IRS that one year, and service improved; but now it is relapsing
again because the Republican majority here simply will not provide
adequate resources to the government agency that is supposed to work
with our taxpayers. Also, the IRS is supposed to do some work in
auditing tax returns. Because of the lack of resources, now fewer than
1 percent of taxpayers have any auditing of what they present to the
IRS.
I understand the concerns. What I do not understand is the
realization that you are the source, in large measure, of these
concerns. Tomorrow, we will be debating bills that have a much greater
impact in terms of the IRS and its employees. This is relatively
innocuous, in part, because it is only a sense of Congress and because
it is unlikely to pass the Senate. Even if it did, it would be nothing
more than an expression of the sense.
{time} 1430
What we really need are dollars and cents given to the IRS employees
so that they can do the work they want to do so that the 50, 60, or
whatever percent of the calls that come in never get through to those
people who would like to respond to the people who are calling them.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mrs. NOEM. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I have heard the gentleman's points on reducing the IRS'
budget over the last several years, and we have done that. In fact, we
have done that in the environment of where we have seen the abuse that
the IRS has wrought on this country.
We have seen the lavish parties, and the American people said it was
unacceptable. We have seen the extreme bonuses that were paid to
employees. We have seen the targeting of individual groups based on
what they work on.
We had hoped that the reduction in spending would be a reminder to
the IRS of who they are to be accountable to, which is to the
hardworking taxpayers, and that it would be the perfect opportunity for
them to identify their priorities of what they should be doing, which
is helping and servicing taxpayers who are trying to comply with the
law instead of targeting individuals and instead of stopping to answer
phone calls.
He talked about only 50 to 60 percent of the phone calls being
answered. I think only 38 percent of those phone calls are being
answered. And then, even if they are answered at times, they are
dropped out of courtesy because the IRS simply isn't there to answer
the questions the taxpayers have.
Taxpayers are spending somewhere around 6 billion hours preparing
their taxes, $30 billion on computer programs and/or professional help
to try to pay their taxes accurately so they can comply with the laws
this country has in place.
The problem is that, by stopping this distribution of IRS publication
17, who we are harming the most are those who are disadvantaged, the
elderly who don't have access to computers, the poor who don't have
access to getting the kind of help that they need or have the funds to
find and be able to pay professional tax preparers. That is who we hurt
if we don't pass this bill today.
Let's help those who are disadvantaged. Let's make sure that they
have the instructions necessary to pay their taxes accurately and on
time. Let's reprioritize what the IRS should have done to begin with
when they were reminded what their job was. Let's support this bill.
I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from South Dakota (Mrs. Noem) that the House suspend the
rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 673.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the resolution was agreed to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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