H.R. 5444 — what changed

“(e) Independent Office of Appeals

“(1) Establishment—There is established in the Internal Revenue Service an office to be known as the “Internal Revenue Service Independent Office of Appeals”.

“(2) Chief of Appeals

“(A) In general—The Internal Revenue Service Independent Office of Appeals shall be under the supervision and direction of an official to be known as the “Chief of Appeals”. The Chief of Appeals shall report directly to the Administrator of the Internal Revenue Service and shall be entitled to compensation at the same rate as the highest rate of basic pay established for the Senior Executive Service under section 5382 of title 5, United States Code.

“(B) Appointment—The Chief of Appeals shall be appointed by the Administrator of the Internal Revenue Service without regard to the provisions of title 5, United States Code, relating to appointments in the competitive service or the Senior Executive Service.

“(C) Qualifications—An individual appointed under subparagraph (B) shall have experience and expertise in—

“(i) administration of, and compliance with, Federal tax laws,

“(ii) a broad range of compliance cases, and

“(iii) management of large service organizations.

“(3) Purposes and duties of Office—It shall be the function of the Internal Revenue Service Independent Office of Appeals to resolve Federal tax controversies without litigation on a basis which—

“(A) is fair and impartial to both the Government and the taxpayer,

“(B) promotes a consistent application and interpretation of, and voluntary compliance with, the Federal tax laws, and

“(C) enhances public confidence in the integrity and efficiency of the Internal Revenue Service.

“(4) Right of appeal—The resolution process described in paragraph (3) shall be generally available to all taxpayers.

“(5) Limitation on designation of cases as not eligible for referral to Independent Office of Appeals

“(A) In general—If any taxpayer which is in receipt of notice of deficiency authorized under section 6212 requests referral to the Internal Revenue Service Independent Office of Appeals and such request is denied, the Administrator of the Internal Revenue Service shall provide such taxpayer a written notice which—

“(i) provides a detailed description of the facts involved, the basis for the decision to deny the request, and a detailed explanation of how the basis of such decision applies to such facts, and

“(ii) describes the procedures proscribed under subparagraph (C) for protesting the decision to deny the request.

“(B) Report to Congress—The Administrator of the Internal Revenue Service shall submit a written report to Congress on an annual basis which includes the number of requests described in subparagraph (A) which were denied and the reasons (described by category) that such requests were denied.

“(C) Procedures for protesting denial of request—The Administrator of the Internal Revenue Service shall prescribe procedures for protesting to the Administrator of the Internal Revenue Service (personally and not through any delegate) a denial of a request described in subparagraph (A).

“(D) Not applicable to frivolous positions—This paragraph shall not apply to a request for referral to the Internal Revenue Service Independent Office of Appeals which is denied on the basis that the issue involved is a frivolous position (within the meaning of section 6702(c)).

“(6) Staff

“(A) In general—All personnel in the Internal Revenue Service Independent Office of Appeals shall report to the Chief of Appeals.

“(B) Access to staff of Office of the Chief Counsel—The Chief of Appeals shall have authority to obtain legal assistance and advice from the staff of the Office of the Chief Counsel. The Chief Counsel shall ensure that such assistance and advice is provided by staff of the Office of the Chief Counsel who were not involved in the case with respect to which such assistance and advice is sought and who are not involved in preparing such case for litigation.

“(7) Access to case files

“(A) In general—In the case of any specified taxpayer with respect to which a conference with the Internal Revenue Service Independent Office of Appeals has been scheduled, the Chief of Appeals shall ensure that such taxpayer is provided access to the nonprivileged portions of the case file on record regarding the disputed issues (other than documents provided by the taxpayer to the Internal Revenue Service) not later than 10 days before the date of such conference.

“(B) Taxpayer election to expedite conference—If the taxpayer so elects, subparagraph (A) shall be applied by substituting “the date of such conference” for “10 days before the date of such conference”.

“(C) Specified taxpayer—For purposes of this paragraph—

“(i) In general—The term “specified taxpayer” means—

“(I) in the case of any taxpayer who is a natural person, a taxpayer whose adjusted gross income does not exceed $400,000, and

“(II) in the case of any other taxpayer, a taxpayer whose gross receipts do not exceed $5,000,000.

“(ii) Aggregation rule—Rules similar to the rules of section 448(c)(2) shall apply for purposes of clause (i)(II).”

Section 5317(c)(2) of title 31, United States Code, is amended—

“(A) In general—Any property”

“(B) Internal Revenue Service seizure requirements with respect to structuring transactions

“(i) Property derived from an illegal source—Property may only be seized by the Internal Revenue Service pursuant to subparagraph (A) by reason of a claimed violation of section 5324 if the property to be seized was derived from an illegal source or the funds were structured for the purpose of concealing the violation of a criminal law or regulation other than section 5324.

“(ii) Notice—Not later than 30 days after property is seized by the Internal Revenue Service pursuant to subparagraph (A), the Internal Revenue Service shall—

changed “(I) make a good faith effort to find all persons with an ownership interest in such property, property; and

“(II) provide each such person with a notice of the seizure and of the person’s rights under clause (iv).

“(iii) Extension of notice under certain circumstances—The Internal Revenue Service may apply to a court of competent jurisdiction for one 30-day extension of the notice requirement under clause (ii) if the Internal Revenue Service can establish probable cause of an imminent threat to national security or personal safety necessitating such extension.

“(iv) Post-seizure hearing—If a person with a property interest in property seized pursuant to subparagraph (A) by the Internal Revenue Service requests a hearing by a court of competent jurisdiction within 30 days after the date on which notice is provided under subclause (ii), such property shall be returned unless the court holds an adversarial hearing and finds within 30 days of such request (or such longer period as the court may provide, but only on request of an interested party) that there is probable cause to believe that there is a violation of section 5324 involving such property and probable cause to believe that the property to be seized was derived from an illegal source or the funds were structured for the purpose of concealing the violation of a criminal law or regulation other than section 5324.”

“(E) in the case of a tax receivable which is identified by the Secretary (or the Secretary’s delegate) during the period beginning on the date which is 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act and ending on December 31, 2019, a taxpayer who is an individual with adjusted gross income, as determined for the most recent taxable year for which such information is available, which does not exceed 250 percent of the applicable poverty level (as determined by the Secretary),”

“(13) Administrator—The term “Administrator”, except where the context clearly indicates otherwise, means the Administrator of the Internal Revenue Service.”

“(5) Taxpayer Advocate Directives—In the case of any Taxpayer Advocate Directive issued by the National Taxpayer Advocate pursuant to a delegation of authority from the Administrator of the Internal Revenue Service—

“(A) the Administrator or a Deputy Administrator shall modify, rescind, or ensure compliance with such directive not later than 90 days after the issuance of such directive, and

“(B) in the case of any directive which is modified or rescinded by a Deputy Administrator, the National Taxpayer Advocate may (not later than 90 days after such modification or rescission) appeal to the Administrator and the Administrator shall (not later than 90 days after such appeal is made) ensure compliance with such directive as issued by the National Taxpayer Advocate or provide the National Taxpayer Advocate with a detailed description of the reasons for any modification or rescission made or upheld by the Administrator pursuant to such appeal.”

“(VIII) identify any Taxpayer Advocate Directive which was not honored by the Internal Revenue Service in a timely manner, as specified under paragraph (5);”

“(E) Coordination with Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration—Before beginning any research or study, the National Taxpayer Advocate shall coordinate with the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration to ensure that the National Taxpayer Advocate does not duplicate any action that the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has already undertaken or has a plan to undertake.”

“(d) Statistical support for National Taxpayer Advocate—The Secretary shall, upon request of the National Taxpayer Advocate, provide the National Taxpayer Advocate with statistical support in connection with the preparation by the National Taxpayer Advocate of the annual report described in section 7803(c)(2)(B)(ii). Such statistical support shall include statistical studies, compilations, and the review of information provided by the National Taxpayer Advocate for statistical validity and sound statistical methodology.”

“(XII) with respect to any statistical information included in such report, include a statement of whether such statistical information was reviewed or provided by the Secretary under section 6108(d) and, if so, whether the Secretary determined such information to be statistically valid and based on sound statistical methodology.”

“7459. Opinions and judgments

“(a) Requirement—An opinion upon any proceeding instituted before the Tax Court and a judgment thereon shall be made as quickly as practicable. The judgment shall be made by a judge in accordance with the opinion of the Tax Court, and such judgment so made shall, when entered, be the judgment of the Tax Court.

“(b) Inclusion of findings of fact in opinion—It shall be the duty of the Tax Court and of each division to include in its opinion or memorandum opinion upon any proceeding, its findings of fact. The Tax Court shall issue in writing all of its findings of fact, opinions, and memorandum opinions. Subject to such conditions as the Tax Court may by rule provide, the requirements of this subsection and of section 7460 are met if findings of fact or opinion are stated orally and recorded in the transcript of the proceedings.”