Taxpayer Economic Hardship Protection Act of 2015

Establish quality review procedures that measure whether employees of the Internal Revenue Service identified and considered the possibility that a taxpayer was in economic hardship before levying.

Establish quality review procedures that measure whether, in each case in which an employee of the Internal Revenue Service identifies economic hardship of a taxpayer, the employee adhered to the decision by the United States Tax Court entitled, “Vinatieri against Commissioner” (133 T.C. 392 (2009)), by placing the account of the taxpayer in a currently not collectible status rather than levying on the taxpayer.

Develop, and publish as part of the Internal Revenue Manual, guidelines for how collection employees of the Internal Revenue Service, on the basis of information in Internal Revenue Service and third-party databases, should consider the possibility that a taxpayer is in economic hardship before issuing a levy.

Adjust the Federal Payment Levy Program low income filter to include accounts with unfiled returns.

Inform collection employees of the Internal Revenue Service of procedural changes described in the preceding paragraphs by issuing a separate alert and a memorandum.

Update training materials and job aids to reflect the decision of the United States Tax Court entitled, “Vinatieri against Commissioner” (133 T.C. 392 (2009)) and the changes to the Internal Revenue Manual made in 2013 relating to liability collection (part 5, chapter 19) and notice of levy (part 5, chapter 11).