[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 889 Introduced in House (IH)]
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115th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 889
To provide for the establishment of an office within the Internal
Revenue Service to focus on violations of the internal revenue laws by
persons who are under investigation for conduct relating to the
promotion of commercial sex acts and trafficking in persons crimes, and
to increase the criminal monetary penalty limitations for the
underpayment or overpayment of tax due to fraud.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 6, 2017
Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York (for herself and Mr. Poe of Texas)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for
a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the
committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for the establishment of an office within the Internal
Revenue Service to focus on violations of the internal revenue laws by
persons who are under investigation for conduct relating to the
promotion of commercial sex acts and trafficking in persons crimes, and
to increase the criminal monetary penalty limitations for the
underpayment or overpayment of tax due to fraud.
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 ``Human Trafficking Fraud Enforcement
Act of 2017''.
SEC. 2. OFFICE FOR TAX LAW ENFORCEMENT RELATING TO HUMAN TRAFFICKING
AND PROMOTION OF COMMERCIAL SEX ACTS.
(a) Establishment.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall establish
an office within the Internal Revenue Service to investigate and
prosecute violations of the internal revenue laws by persons that
appear to be engaged in conduct in violation of any of the provisions
specified in subsection (b).
(b) Certain Criminal Provisions Relating to Human Trafficking and
Promotion of Commercial Sex Acts.--The provisions of law referenced in
this subsection are as follows:
(1) The following provisions of title 18, United States
Code:
(A) Section 1351.
(B) Section 1589.
(C) Section 1590.
(D) Section 1591(a).
(E) Section 1952.
(F) Section 2421.
(G) Section 2422.
(H) Subsection (a), (d), or (e) of section 2423.
(2) Section 1328 of title 8, United States Code.
(3) The laws of any State or territory that prohibit the
promotion of prostitution or of any commercial sex act (as such
term is defined in section 1591(e)(3) of title 18, United
States Code).
(c) Cooperation With Department of Justice.--To the extent
possible, the office established under subsection (a) shall cooperate
with the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the Department of
Justice and the Innocence Lost National Initiative of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation.
(d) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment
of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall report to the
Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Finance of the Senate on the enforcement activities of the
office established under subsection (a) and shall include any
recommendations for statutory changes to assist in future prosecutions
pursuant to this section.
(e) Applicability of Whistleblower Awards to Victims of Human
Trafficking.--For purposes of making an award under paragraph (1) or
(2) of section 7623(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 with
respect to information provided by victims of any person convicted of
violating any of the provisions specified in subsection (b), the
determination of whether such person is described in such paragraph
shall be made without regard to paragraph (3) of section 7623(b) of
such Code.
(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--
(1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated not
more than $4,000,000 for fiscal year 2018 to carry out
subsection (a).
(2) Additional funding for administration of office.--
Unless specifically appropriated otherwise, there is authorized
to be appropriated and is appropriated to the office
established under subsection (a) for fiscal years 2018 and 2019
for the administration of such office an amount equal to the
sum of--
(A) the amount of any tax under chapter 1 of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (including any interest)
collected during such fiscal years as the result of the
actions of such office, plus
(B) the amount of any civil or criminal monetary
penalties imposed under such Code relating to such tax
and so collected.
Amounts not expended under the preceding sentence shall be
transferred to and deposited in the Crime Victims Fund in the
Treasury (42 U.S.C. 10601).
SEC. 3. INCREASE IN CRIMINAL MONETARY PENALTIES.
(a) Attempt To Evade or Defeat Tax.--Section 7201 of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to attempt to evade or defeat tax) is
amended--
(1) by striking ``Any person'' and inserting the following:
``(a) In General.--Any person'', and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(b) Attempt To Evade or Defeat Tax Attributable to Human
Trafficking and Commercial Sex Acts.--
``(1) In general.--In the case of any attempt to evade or
defeat any tax attributable to income derived from an act
described in paragraph (2), subsection (a) shall be applied--
``(A) by substituting `$500,000 ($1,000,000' for
`$100,000 ($500,000', and
``(B) by substituting `10 years' for `5 years'.
``(2) Human trafficking and commercial sex acts.--For
purposes of paragraph (1), an act described in this paragraph
is any act which is a violation of any of the provisions
specified in section 2(b) of the Human Trafficking Fraud
Enforcement Act of 2017.''.
(b) Willful Failure To File Return, Supply Information, or Pay
Tax.--
(1) General increase in monetary penalty.--Section 7203 of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to willful failure
to file return, supply information, or pay tax) is amended by
striking ``$25,000'' and inserting ``$50,000''.
(2) Increase in penalties for failure to file with respect
to tax attributable to human trafficking and commercial sex
acts.--
(A) In general.--Section 7203 of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to willful failure to
file return, supply information, or pay tax), as
amended by paragraph (1), is amended by striking ``Any
person'' in the first sentence and inserting the
following:
``(a) In General.--Any person'', and
(B) by adding at the end the following new
subsection:
``(b) Failure To File With Respect to Tax Attributable to Human
Trafficking and Commercial Sex Acts.--In the case of any failure with
respect to any tax attributable to income derived from an act described
in paragraph (2) of section 7201(b), the first sentence of subsection
(a) shall be applied by substituting--
``(1) `felony' for `misdemeanor',
``(2) `$500,000 ($1,000,000' for `$50,000 ($100,000', and
``(3) `10 years' for `1 year'.''.
(3) Conforming amendment.--The third sentence of section
7203(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (as amended by
paragraph (1)) is amended by striking ``this section'' and
inserting ``this subsection''.
(c) Fraud and False Statements.--Section 7206 of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to fraud and false statements) is
amended--
(1) by striking ``Any person'' and inserting the following:
``(a) In General.--Any person'', and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(b) Fraud and False Statements With Respect to Tax Attributable
to Human Trafficking and Commercial Sex Acts.--In the case of any
violation of subsection (a) relating to any tax attributable to income
derived from an act described in paragraph (2) of section 7201(b),
subsection (a) shall be applied--
``(1) by substituting `$500,000 ($1,000,000' for `$100,000
($500,000', and
``(2) by substituting `5 years' for `3 years'.''.
(d) Penalties May Be Applied in Addition to Other Penalties.--
Section 7204 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to
fraudulent statement or failure to make statement to employees) is
amended by striking ``the penalty provided in section 6674'' and
inserting ``the penalties provided in sections 6674, 7201, and 7203''.
(e) Increase in Monetary Limitation for Underpayment or Overpayment
of Tax Due to Fraud.--Section 7206 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
(relating to fraud and false statements), as amended by subsection (c),
is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(c) Increase in Monetary Limitation for Underpayment or
Overpayment of Tax Due to Fraud.--If any portion of any underpayment
(as defined in section 6664(a)) or overpayment (as defined in section
6401(a)) of tax required to be shown on a return is attributable to
fraudulent action described in subsection (a), the applicable dollar
amount under subsection (a) shall in no event be less than an amount
equal to such portion. A rule similar to the rule under section 6663(b)
shall apply for purposes of determining the portion so attributable.''.
(f) Moneys Available To Assist Victims of Crime.--There are hereby
appropriated to the Crime Victims Fund (42 U.S.C. 10601) amounts
equivalent to the increase in receipts to the Treasury by reason of the
amendments made by this section. Such amounts shall be available for
victim assistance grants under the Victims of Crime Act of 1984,
including crisis intervention, emergency shelter and transportation,
counseling, and criminal justice advocacy to victims of crime.
(g) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall
apply to actions, and failures to act, occurring after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
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