▶ 0:21:34Chair Crapo: The committee will come to order. We are meeting today to consider the chairman's mark of the taxpayer assistance and service act or the tas act as modified. To begin with, I will briefly explain how ranking member wyden and I plan to proceed through today's market. We will each deliver an opening statement. Other members are then welcome to deliver opening statements of up to two minutes each.
▶ 0:22:03Chair Crapo: Once opening statements have been given, we will introduce the panel, described modifications to the chairman's mark, and allow members to ask questions of the panel. After that, we will consider amendments to the modified mark. We will then vote on whether to report the modified mark. If a quorum for a vote is not present, we will vote when we have a quorum. We will let officers know of the time to vote to make sure that we have a quorum. I believe we are hopeful that we'll be here as soon as we wrap up the comments.
▶ 0:22:36Chair Crapo: With that, we will turn to opening statements. I now recognize myself for an opening statement. Every year, tens of millions of americans do their best to comply with our tax laws. They prepare their returns, wait for refunds, and attempt to respond to notices, only to find the system is more complex and less responsive than it should be. Today, we begin to address those issues through our consideration of the taxpayer assistance and service act, or the tas act.
▶ 0:23:09Chair Crapo: This bipartisan bill modernizes and streamlines irs operations, strengthens taxpayer rights, and delivers a more taxpayer first system. It reflects years of bipartisan efforts to translate stories of case work frustrations and tangible fixes designed to make the irs work more efficiently for the american people. Thank you root, ranking member martin, for his partnership in me with this legislation.
▶ 0:23:37Chair Crapo: And to the members of this committee on both sides of the aisle who share their ideas and proposals, many of which are incorporated in this bill before us. The tas act incorporates more than 60 provisions focused on improving taxpayer experience.
▶ 0:23:54Chair Crapo: Senators young, warner, cassidy, warner championed provisions to improve irs customer service by requiring the irs to expand scanning paper file tax returns, online accounts, and communications tools, including online dashboards and call back technology. These reforms would slash wait time for americans to otherwise wait weeks for mail or spend an afternoon on hold.
▶ 0:24:26Chair Crapo: Senators blackburn and cortez masto spearheaded a provision to protect taxpayers from penalties due to the irs delays in electronic filing by extending the statutory mid rule to electronic submissions and payments. This change would treat a return or payment electronically sent on the due date as timely, just as it is through papers sent through the mail.
▶ 0:24:52Chair Crapo: Senator scott and hassan let provisions to strengthen fair judicial review by clarifying the tax courts limited authority to grant relief from final decisions and allowing courts to consider all relevant evidence and innocent spouse cases. Senators grassley and wyden drafted provisions that would strengthen the irs whistleblower program.
▶ 0:25:15Chair Crapo: Senator barrasso is driving a provision that protects taxpayers rights by requiring the irs to notify taxpayers before the agency contacts third parties to obtain information regarding the taxpayer. Senator marshall is having a provision that unlocks low income taxpayer clinic funding, providing key resources for low income taxpayers.
▶ 0:25:39Chair Crapo: Senators cornyn and lujan lit a provision expanding access to the tax court's, small case procedure which would give more taxpayers a streamlined and affordable forum for resolving tax disputes with the irs. In addition, senators thune, lankford, daines have led amendments that have been adopted in the bottom line mark before us today.
▶ 0:26:03Chair Crapo: Senator thune's amendment extends keep tax deadline for farmers and fishermen. Senator lankford's amendment clarifies a tax exempt organizations right to appeal adverse rulings of the status to the irs office of appeals.
▶ 0:26:21Chair Crapo: Last week, senator daines championed an amendment that enhances accountability by increasing criminal and civil penalties for the unauthorized disclosure of taxpayer information while also ensuring irs contractors who willfully cause data breaches are appropriately penalized. These are just a sample of the many practical taxpayer focused reforms included in the tas act.
▶ 0:26:46Chair Crapo: The bill has drawn support from our current and former tax advocates. Our current taxpayer advocate is with us here today. As well as many practitioners who work within the system every day. Such broad consensus signals we are on the right path to better tax administration. Americans are duty-bound to comply with our tax laws. The federal government in turn treated Mr. a tax system that is transparent, efficient, and fair.
▶ 0:27:17Chair Crapo: Before I turn to ranking member wyden, I want to thank tom bartel, chief of staff, and the staff who supported the committee's work on the tas act, help members prepare for today's markup. Your hard work has been indispensable once again in bringing this bipartisan product before the committee today. With that, I recognize ranking member wyden for his opening remark.
▶ 0:27:40Sen. Wyden: Thank from Mr. chairman. You have laid it out well. I will be very brief and just reminisce for a moment about how we got to this day.
▶ 0:27:56Sen. Wyden: Because my take is, we worked on this when I was chairman of the committee, we worked on it when you were chair of the committee, and at all times, we said, sweat equity is bipartisan when you are trying to wring out inefficiency from the tax code. This is an important development .
▶ 0:28:19Sen. Wyden: Today, we take big steps to make some history in the area of tax policy and get us on the road to ringing out some of the inefficiency in tax code. The updates will help ensure that refunds get out the door on time. They will improve customer service. They will make it easier for taxpayers to get help during filing season.
▶ 0:28:45Sen. Wyden: One of the most absurd aspects of the tax code is that its complexity forces millions of americans to turn to paid tax return preparers every year. And this is part of the concern that we have about two tax systems, one for working people, one for the ultra-wealthy. Unlike the ultra-wealthy, most people cannot afford to hire armies of accountants and lawyers to navigate the system.
▶ 0:29:14Sen. Wyden: There isn't a single law on the books to ensure these preparers actually know what they are doing and following the law. And we are now making a bipartisan effort to change that. The results in many of these prep services is, you have something that is not worth the paper it is written on. Often times returns are filed a late or incorrectly. The worst part is taxpayers may not even realize they have been ripped off until it is way late.
▶ 0:29:43Sen. Wyden: Then the next thing you know, you are being hit by a costly time-consuming audit. This bill takes important steps to crack down on these shady tax prep schemes that prey on families, that are making a quick buck. Millions of americans struggle right now to afford the skyrocketing cost of rent, gas, and groceries. The last thing they need is to be hit by costless needs and penalties by the irs.
▶ 0:30:11Sen. Wyden: The bill, in my view, is especially important because it reduces the financial burden on low income families, makes it easier for them to get filing assistance and ensure an ultra low income taxpayer gets streamlined access, so they can get the full income earned tax credit. The bill is a good first step to delivering relief to low income folks.
▶ 0:30:35Sen. Wyden: We know we have a lot to do in the future to ensure fairness to the system that does at the very top have spent years working to rig in their favor and making it harder for everyone else. I will shift gears and wrap up here in a minute. I see our friend tom barr who has done yeoman's work on the joint committee on taxation in the senate legislative council, for all the work they did to help us translate that sweat equity into results this morning.
▶ 0:31:05Sen. Wyden: The theme of today's meeting is streamlining the tax filing system for those who are hard-working and protecting them from predatory schemes and audits. As of right now, everybody in america is subject to audit, except one family. That is the trump family. All thanks to the tax audit immunity deal donald trump got out of his own administration.
▶ 0:31:32Sen. Wyden: The immunity deal come in my view, is a brazen abuse of the nation's laws and a system that forces everyone else to play by the rules. It amounts to the worst of double standards, a crooked double standard that benefits one person, the president and his family. It's clear donald trump and his family and business associates will do virtually anything to use the federal government and taxpayer dollars to enrich themselves and operate under a separate set of rules.
▶ 0:32:02Sen. Wyden: Never has been more clear with this example, the fact that there are rules for people at the top and there are rules for everybody else. The ultra-wealthy can game the system with armies of accountants and lawyers, and everyone else has to pay by the rules and pay their share.
▶ 0:32:19Sen. Wyden: I take it as an admission of guilt when it comes to tax cheating that the trump family has been stuffing every dollar they can, putting it in their pockets, but they won't face accountability as long as donald trump can bleed the irs and dry of staffing and resources need to go after tax cheats.
▶ 0:32:37Sen. Wyden: Later this morning, the committee will have the opportunity to vote on an amendment that I will offer with the support of every member on our side of the aisle, every single one will join me in making sure that we end this amendment process that the trump people have used to engage in corruption.
▶ 0:33:01Sen. Wyden: Instead, we would ban the irs and treasury department from entering into agreements like the one they did already for the future. Every member in this room is going to have a choice. We will have a choice to be able to say we disagree and we disagree strongly with this amendment that benefits one person, the president of united states. We want a tax system -- bill bradley has sat on this committee and said it well for years.
▶ 0:33:30Sen. Wyden: We want a tech system that gives everyone in america the chance to get ahead. With this legislation, we have the opportunity. Mr. chairman, I really are. Appreciate working with you. We work on a lot of stuff, timber stuff. This is one of the highlights.
▶ 0:33:48Chair Crapo: I now recognize any other members who wish to make an opening statement. I remind members to limit your remarks to two minutes, and of course, we will gladly put any opening statements into the record for you. Senator warren. >> every year, millions of virginians file their taxes and too many face the same reality. Sometimes it is hours spent on whole just to get a simple answer about a refund.
▶ 0:34:18Chair Crapo: Sometimes a missing notice means the refund is delayed literally for months. Today, I want to talk about some of the common sense reforms in this bill that will help change that. The bill requires irs to build a real-time public dashboard showing call volumes, backlog, wait times.
▶ 0:34:40Chair Crapo: When the irs falls behind processing returns or letters, they will have to say so publicly within a week, eliminating guessing games for taxpayers wondering why their refunds have not arrived. The bill modernizes the tools like where is my refund, and the irs online account, so the taxpayers can see exactly what is holding up the return and what they need to do to fix it.
▶ 0:35:05Chair Crapo: The bill pushes the irs toward universal callback technology, so virginians and americans won't have to stay on hold for an hour just to reach a real person. It expands online accounts so taxpayers and their accountants can pull up notices, letters, and past returns directly when they need them.
▶ 0:35:27Chair Crapo: Finally, it requires the irs to tell taxpayers facing economic hardships about better options to tackle their tax liabilities like reduced payment plans or having their debt market as currently uncollectible, instead of steering them into installment payments they cannot afford. This is an example of bipartisanship with all the bickering back and forth, this will actually make life a little bit easier for americans. I am proud to support it, proud to yield the back 10 seconds.
▶ 0:35:56Chair Crapo: Senator lankford.
▶ 0:36:00Sen. Lankford: Thanks for pulling this hearing to get her to work on these issues. There is an amendment included in the bill that I want to highlight baby that deals with nonprofits. There are so many people that consider nonprofits exactly like other small businesses and I always smile and say most of them want to operate like another small business but they are run by volunteers who struggle with their own life and their own work and they set aside time to be able to be involved in nonprofits.
▶ 0:36:28Sen. Lankford: Nonprofits are the third largest employer in our country but they have unique dynamics. Just an operation. Nonprofits right now, it is not guaranteed that if they lose their nonprofit status, they have the opportunity to appeal that, challenge that, get information about why, what did I do wrong, what paperwork did I not get in on time. It is practice now, commonly done, but doesn't have to be done. This makes sure it continues to be done.
▶ 0:36:58Sen. Lankford: It was just 14 years ago that this committee and the ways and means committee in the house and other committees were dealing with an irs that was denying access to nonprofits getting a decision at all. When lois lerner was leaving the area.
▶ 0:37:13Sen. Lankford: This says we are going to have an irs that permanently says they will be fair, neutral to all nonprofits, and if there is an issue with a nonprofit in their status, they have the opportunity to appeal that and make sure they get their day to be able to also get an answer as well. Grateful that we are recognizing nonprofits and their unique relationship with their volunteers and leadership and how difficult it is, how they want to just get answers in a timely basis. Thank you, Mr. chairman.
▶ 0:37:43Chair Crapo: Thank you. Any other senators? Senator smith.
▶ 0:37:51Sen. Smith: Thank you very much, chair crapo, ranking member wyden. I just want to thank you and your staff's for doing the nitty-gritty detailed work that is required to figure out how to make the irs work better for regular people. I'm also very grateful that two amendments I worked on were included in the bill. Thank you for that. The first I will highlight briefly. Dune-smith amendment number one, I worked on with senator thune.
▶ 0:38:19Sen. Smith: This very simply lines up the deadline for farmers filing their taxes with everyone else filing their taxes which will be a big boost to farmers and producers around the country, help them save time, give them some certainty. I like to ask unanimous consent to add senators welch and bennett as cosponsors of this amendment.
▶ 0:38:41Chair Crapo: Without objection.
▶ 0:38:44Sen Smith: Thank you, Mr. chair. The second amendment I want to highlight briefly is my amendment that would require the irs to report on how they are tracking the physical documents that taxpayers submit to them. This comes directly from feedback I've gotten from my constituents in minnesota. I am sure many of your casework staff have heard the same thing.
▶ 0:39:10Sen Smith: Basically people submit hard copies of their material to the irs, and then they are in the situation of having to send them over and over again because the irs cannot keep track of these hard paper documents. It's a huge waste of time and incredibly frustrating for people. I want to thank my very talented casework team and especially maranda morgan, lily, katie van herron for raising this issue, helping us work to get a resolution in this bill.
▶ 0:39:39Sen Smith: It will make a big difference to people once we get this done. Thank you so much to both the chair and the ranking member. I look forward to supporting this bill.
▶ 0:39:47Chair Crapo: Senator cantwell.
▶ 0:39:52Sen. Cantwell: Thank you for working in a bipartisan fashion to pull together some commonsense changes. I want to point out this is only half the story of what we need to be talking about. Making sure the irs is funded and staffed is essential to having a fair system, and we look at the cuts that came through earlier this year. It means we are eliminating trained and experienced revenue agents who can audit and to complex returns. Obviously, address the concerns of the public who are responsible for bringing in 96% of the country's total revenues.
▶ 0:40:24Sen. Cantwell: Those cuts won't produce savings, they just actually cost money. The young budget lab estimated last year's cuts resulted in $861 billion in less revenue. If we are going to get our fiscal house in order come the least we can do is fund our own tax accounts receivable function. I hope we can work together on this in the future and make sure our constituents get timely information. Also want to speak briefly about the wyden amendment. We need to close loopholes.
▶ 0:40:55Sen. Cantwell: We cannot have anyone who has a loophole just because they have been given permission by someone to ignore the tax laws without consequence. My constituents were outraged by the 1.8 billion dollar slush fund but the offer a blanket immunity from any tax enforcement claims was especially appalling.
▶ 0:41:14Sen. Cantwell: Our office halves received more than 7000 messages from constituents exposing their opposition and anger, over 165 million tax warrants were returned in 2025, formally from the state of washington. We need to make sure those law-abiding citizens, that the well-connected are not above the law and they don't get a free pass when it comes to compliance with our tax laws. Thank you.
▶ 0:41:36Chair Crapo: Senator grassley.
▶ 0:41:40Sen. Grassley: The taxpayer's assistance and service act continues a long tradition of this committee working on a bipartisan basis to improve tax administration and strengthen taxpayers rights.
▶ 0:42:12Sen. Grassley: The bill includes improvements to the irs whistleblower program that I authored along with ranking member wyden. These provisions will ensure that those who risk their career to blow the whistle on corporate tax cheats can be confident their identity will be protected and will receive a fair reward in a timely manner. And why do their identities need to be protected?
▶ 0:42:41Sen. Grassley: Because they are really patriotic people when they are telling us about wrongdoing in government or laws being violated, but instead, they are treated like skunks at a picnic by the bureaucracy under either republican or democrat administration. So this program, the whistleblower irs program really works.
▶ 0:43:09Sen. Grassley: It has brought in $8 billion to the U.S. treasury. I am confident these reforms will lead to even greater collections moving forward. The bill also includes an amendment that I worked on with senator hassan that will improve tax compliance and help the irs combat tax refund fraud. The joint committee on taxation estimates this provision will save the taxpayers $385 million.
▶ 0:43:42Sen. Grassley: I'm also pleased to see the chairman's mark incorporated an amendment that I cosponsored with senator thune to align certain tax filing tools for farmers and fishermen with a regular april 15 tax filing deadline. This change will eliminate a lot of headaches the current rule creates for farmers and their tax preparers. Thank you both for holding this bipartisan markup.
▶ 0:44:10Chair Crapo: Thank you very much. Next I have on the list of senator welch. I don't have anybody else on the republican side that I'm aware of that wants to make an opening statement at this point. Senator welch, and then we will proceed with the markup.
▶ 0:44:27Sen. Welch: Thank you, Mr. chairman, ranking member wyden. To have this important legislation that we are going to act on today. It will make significant improvements. I have two bipartisan provisions in here that I worked on with senator marshall. It is really a pleasure to be able to work together. Both sides of the aisle. I do want to say something that is of enormous concern and disappointment to me. I say this is the most junior member of this committee.
▶ 0:44:59Sen. Welch: We have not had any discussion about the $39 trillion national debt. The clock is ticking. We have not had any serious progress on dealing with the threat to entitlements which are so profoundly important to the well-being of the american people. Social security, medicare. We have not really done anything about the incredible tax cap and the loss of 31,000 irs employees.
▶ 0:45:30Sen. Welch: I sought to get on this committee because it is considered to be a big deal, but how can it be a big deal if what we know are the existential threats to the well-being of this country, the debt, entitlements, fair taxes with a well staffed and respected irs, we don't do anything.
▶ 0:45:57Sen. Welch: I think both parties can take google credit for our failure to do our job, but I have to tell you, as one senator on this committee, it astonishes me that, on the major issues that everyone knows is out there, we don't do anything. So my hope is, the spirit of bipartisanship we have on this bill -- thank you, Mr. chairman, ranking member -- we start applying to things that are of existential concern to the people of this country. Thank you.
▶ 0:46:25Chair Crapo: Thank you, senator welch. Now we will proceed to the walk-through on the modifications of the mark and answer any questions. As is the case when the consider this committee considers tax legislation, we have the chief of staff of the joint committee on taxation, tom barthold. He will walk through the modifications. I note to you that we have a quorum present, so I would ask you to go through your summary quickly so that we can get to the actual business.
▶ 0:46:53Mr. Barthold: Thank you, Mr. chairman. I will try a quite abridged version. The members have before them joint committee documents which describes the underlying mark, and on green sheets jc whichx describes the chairman's modification and estimated budget affects45, 46 of the bill as modified. The chairman's modification office, two modifications to provisions in the underlying mark and six additions.
▶ 0:47:24Mr. Barthold: The modifications, the first modification clarifies and expands the definition of electronic filing I then vacation numbers. The second modification clarifies the right of appeal that is established in the underlying mark that it is also generally available with respect to determinations to deny or revoke tax-exempt status.
▶ 0:47:45Mr. Barthold: The additions to the mark as made by the modification, the first is under present law, there is special rules filing dates for farmers and fishermen. It extends those dates from march 1 under present law, would establish april 15 date.
▶ 0:48:04Mr. Barthold: Second edition is it requires the secretary to report the irs' practices for taxpayer document tracking so that the committee can learn and hopefully make improvements in that area. The third edition is it accelerates the filing dates for information returns that the irs receives of returns that the taxpayer already has received.
▶ 0:48:30Mr. Barthold: These information returns are with respect to dividends, interest, retirement plan distributions, ira distributions, certain miscellaneous payments, social security and railroad distributions, payments under third-party network payments. Fourth edition, increases the criminal and civil penalties for unauthorized disclosure, extending it to contractors.
▶ 0:48:56Mr. Barthold: The fifth edition relates to individuals who file a broad clarifying irs authority with respect to assessment of penalties and establishes new procedures to ensure preassessment review. The final addition made by the chairman's modification is to establish within the irs a business childcare liaison.
▶ 0:49:20Mr. Barthold: The general purpose of which is to foster increased employer-provided childcare facilities, recognizing the benefits provided under the code. That concludes my brief description. Happy to answer any questions the members might have.
▶ 0:49:35Chair Crapo: Thank you, Mr. barthold. In addition, we have mike gold from majority staff, eric lopresti from minority staff, also here to answer questions, we have been joined by don snyder. We appreciate all of you being here to respond to any questions , if the senators have them. Do any senators have questions of the panel?
▶ 0:50:28Chair Crapo: See you that there are no question toward the panel, we will now proceed to amendments to the modified mark. A quorum for the purpose of conducting business being present, under the committee rule, that being the case, the modification is hereby incorporated into the chairman's mark, and the chairman's mark as modified is now open for debate and amendment. Does any senator wish to offer an amendment? Senator cortez masto.
▶ 0:51:00Sen. Cortez Masto: Thank you again, like my colleagues, the chairman and a ranking member. This is a great piece of bipartisan work. I'm proud to be a part of it. I thank you for also incorporating the danes cortez amendment number one that increases the civil penalties for unauthorized disclosure of taxpayer information as well as the cortez masto blackburn amendment number one which address of the need for electronic filing identification validation against fraud. I ask that we call up cortez masto amendment number two.
▶ 0:51:35Sen. Cortez Masto: Let me talk a little bit about this. Again, thank you for allowing me to bring this forward. This amendment is very simple, restores the taxation of gambling losses to the standard set by the 2017 tax cuts and jobs act. Historically, americans who lose money while gambling have been able to deduct 100% of their losses from the annual taxes. As long as they don't deduct more than their winnings. That has been the tradition.
▶ 0:52:02Sen. Cortez Masto: This ensures the tax code accurately reflects their income and their ability to pay. Unfortunately, under the one big beautiful bill, it contained a provision that limited that deduction to 90%. This creates an arbitrary cliff that can result in an effective tax rate of more than 100% for some players. Needless to say, this deduction limit has a major impact not only on our industry and workers, individuals in the batter, but across the country as well.
▶ 0:52:32Sen. Cortez Masto: If we don't fix this issue, we will see lost jobs and economic growth and many americans will owe a tax bill on income that they do not have. That is why the solution is this amendment which offers a garnered support from both chairman smith of house ways and as well as many bipartisan members of both chambers, including senator cassidy. I thank him for joining me on this.
▶ 0:52:59Sen. Cortez Masto: I will, however, as I'm offering this amendment, recognize that due to the germane standard, it is not applicable for today. So I will withdraw it. But I look forward to us addressing this in the future. Thank you, Mr. chairman, ranking member.
▶ 0:53:15Chair Crapo: I appreciate you withdrawing the amendment. We will work with you on addressing this as we move forward. Next we have senator bennet.
▶ 0:53:25Sen. Bennet: Appreciate you holding this hearing. I am offering bennett amendment number one. Today we are about to pass one of the largest irs reform packages in decades. It will go a long way toward modernizing our tax collection process and setting our new safeguards for taxpayers.
▶ 0:53:45Sen. Bennet: But americans are still denied a tax filing experience that is available to citizens in almost every country, every other country in the industrialized world. Almost three quarters of the oecd countries, places like australia, belgium, france, have instituted some form of repopulation for their tax returns. In these places, it can take as little as 10 minutes to file your return, with only a few clicks of a button.
▶ 0:54:15Sen. Bennet: In estonia, it can take as little as three minutes to file your taxes. This is an idea that has a long bipartisan history. President reagan championed it back in 1980 five, describing the world where you "would automatically receive your refund or a letter receiving any additional tax you owe" without even having to fill out a return in his vision.
▶ 0:54:43Sen. Bennet: In some ways, his vision was even more ambitious than what any of us would imagine today. My amendment would bring us one step closer to that reality. It would require the irs to determine how to implement pre-populated returns for certain incomes, to launch a pilot program doing so. I think every american would agree that we need to make our tax system easier, faster, and more comprehensive.
▶ 0:55:10Sen. Bennet: I think every american would take the option, if they had the choice, I'm spending just a few minutes on their taxes. Today's markup addresses a number of important concerns. I am glad to see it put forward with several of my bills including eliminating installment fees for low income individuals trying to pay what they owe. More protection for taxpayers as they navigate the process. I think, going forward, Mr.
▶ 0:55:40Sen. Bennet: Chairman, this committee should be focused on ideas like repopulation that makes our tax system just a little bit more like the rest of the industrialized world, a little bit less miserable for the american people. I look forward to working with my colleagues to create the kind of tax system that coloradans and people around the country deserve. Thank you, Mr. chairman. I withdraw my amendment.
▶ 0:56:03Chair Crapo: Thank you for withdrawing the amendment. Again, I commit to work with you as we try to achieve this objective as well. Next we have senator warren.
▶ 0:56:15Sen. Warren: Thank you, Mr. chairman. I want to thank both the chairman and the ranking member for your leadership on the taxpayer assistance and service act. This is a bill that is full of commonsense changes to improve the taxpayer experience. It cracks down on paid tax preparers who skim americans. It strengthens the independent national taxpayer advocate. And it helps taxpayers get faster refunds.
▶ 0:56:42Sen. Warren: I'm also proud to have introduced the irs map act alongside senator cassidy, which was originally a part of the bill before we got it signed into law last year. It has already made it through. But if we truly want to make tax filing accessible and convenient, we have to. Do more. Today, I'm offering an amendment to bring back the direct file and make it permanent.
▶ 0:57:11Sen. Warren: During the biden administration, the irs ran a pilot program for direct file which allowed taxpayers to file their taxes online for free and directly with the government, and people loved it. 94% of taxpayers who used the program described their experience as excellent or above average.
▶ 0:57:34Sen. Warren: But giant tax prep companies like intuit lobbied to kill direct file because it threatened their profits. After intuit donated a million dollars to trump's inauguration fund, trump canceled the program. It is corruption, plain and simple. My amendment would reverse that. That shameful decision and make direct file law of the land.
▶ 0:58:03Sen. Warren: We also cannot stand by when the trump administration just cut a deal, giving donald trump a get out of jail free card for potentially cheating on his taxes. No other taxpayer, ever, has gotten this kind of deal. A federal judge has already called it a legal -- illegal. Any serious effort to make the iris work better for american taxpayers must ensure that everyone is treated fairly and equally under the law.
▶ 0:58:34Sen. Warren: I am proud to cosponsor ranking member wyden's amendment to bar the treasury department and irs from enforcing this corrupt deal. This committee should not consider our work done here until we adopt it. While I support this committee's work to make the irs work better for taxpayers, I cannot support a bill that rubberstamps donald trump's corruption.
▶ 0:59:01Sen. Warren: Under donald trump, the irs keeps working better and better for donald trump, and for his billionaire buddies, and worse and worse for everyone else. Congress need to stand up and put a stop to it. After speaking with the ranking member wyden, I will not ask for a boat on my direct file amendment. I yield back to the chair.
▶ 0:59:23Sen. Wyden: Mr. chairman, briefly, I share senator warren's view on direct file and would just point out for a quick minute, there is history in this committee of doing this on a bipartisan basis. For several years -- I see my friend senator tillis. There were senators who sat in those seats at the end who work with myself and others to do this in a bipartisan fashion.
▶ 0:59:49Sen. Wyden: My only statement before we go to senator smith, who I think is next. I hope this committee, next year, will work in a bipartisan way to get direct file. It's the right thing to do, most of the industrialized nation is doing it. Let's find a way to get it done next year.
▶ 1:00:05Chair Crapo: Thank you, senator wyden, warren. We will next move to senator smith.
▶ 1:00:14Sen. Smith: Thank you, Mr. chair, ranking member. I want to offer and then withdraw my amendment come us with number two which deals with coercive debt. Coerced debt occurs when an abuser uses fraud or duress or manipulation to take out debt in the name of a person that they are abusing, their survivor. Basically, what they do, they force another person to borrow money that can't afford or the abuser takes out a loan or opens a new credit card and the survivors name without even telling them.
▶ 1:00:44Sen. Smith: This of course happens in situations where there is domestic abuse or human trafficking or even identity theft. I have heard from minnesotans who have survived domestic violence and then they have their financial stability shattered because they have to start all over again, fighting off debt from debt collectors, as they are trying to rebuild their credit. Minnesota come along with several other states, have actually passed laws to protect survivors and give them help with coerced debt forgiveness.
▶ 1:01:14Sen. Smith: But then come to find out that when this project we incurred debt is forgiven by the courts or canceled by a creditor, a new problem is created, which is that in some cases, survivors are then required to pay taxes on the forgiven debt because the irs recognizes it as income. My amendment would have required the irs to issue guidance to resolve this confusion. I think it would be a really good thing.
▶ 1:01:44Sen. Smith: I understand we will not be including it. I know there are questions raised about how we can implement this. I hope that we can continue to work on this with my colleagues and fix this issue for people in the future. Thank you, Mr. chair.
▶ 1:01:57Chair Crapo: Thank, senator smith. Thank you for withdrawing the amendment. We will continue to work with you on this. Next is senator wyden.
▶ 1:02:06Sen. Wyden: Thank you, Mr. chairman. I call up why did amendment number one -- wyden amendment number one.
▶ 1:02:20Chair Crapo: Without objection.
▶ 1:02:23Sen. Wyden: Colleagues, nobody, especially the president should get special treatment under america's tax laws. This amendment tears up donald trump's illegal sweetheart deal and permanently bans the irs and the treasury department from ever inking a deal like this ever again in america.
▶ 1:02:51Sen. Wyden: It would also empower a future administration to take action against anyone who benefits from this fundamentally corrupt scheme. This amendment gives this warning. Both sides of the aisle, and a chance to rein in this lawlessness. A vote against this amendment, in my view, is an endorsement of an obscene and illegal self-dealing by the president of the united states.
▶ 1:03:21Sen. Wyden: I strongly urge my colleagues to support this amendment. >> Mr. chair.
▶ 1:03:29Chair Crapo: Senator tillis.
▶ 1:03:34Sen. Tillis: I rise in opposition to the amendment. I hope my colleagues vote against it. Mr. blanche made it very clear without a moment of hesitation that he would work with us to end the 1776 fund and revise the language on the audit. I believe he is working in good faith. I think that we will get there. It's clear there is another member on this committee that's made it clear we need that outcome to support his confirmation.
▶ 1:04:01Sen. Tillis: I hope the integrity of this bill remains intact and that we continue to move forward with taxpayer assistance and services act, and we work to bring this to a conclusion that the administration has indicated they are willing to do. I have been one to work with blanche to get language that we can put on the floor if we need to but now I'm convinced the best way to do it is to end it by renegotiating the agreement and settle it for good. I would urge opposition to the amendment.
▶ 1:04:30Chair Crapo: Thank you, senator tillis. I will respond and then respond. I agree with senator tillis. There is a strong diversity of opinions and views among members of this committee on this issue.
▶ 1:04:49Chair Crapo: If this bill were to become the vehicle where this issue is resolved, it would achieve basically making this bill a partisan bill rather than a completely bipartisan bill, which you've seen it presented as today. What I'm saying is basically what senator tillis said. This is not the place. It is being resolved in another committee.
▶ 1:05:14Chair Crapo: I would ask my colleagues to reject this amendment because it would turn this bill into a bill that has a much dimmer future to becoming law, by making it a partisan bill, rather than a bipartisan bill. Because of that, I would encourage my colleagues to vote against this amendment. Senator wyden has requested a vote. Therefore, the clerk will call the role. [roll call]
▶ 1:07:10Chair Crapo: The clerk will report. The amendment has been defeated. I am not aware of any other amendments that anyone seeks to make. With that, if there is no further debate on the bill, I would entertain a motion that the committee order the taxpayer assistance and service act reported as modified and amendment.
▶ 1:07:32Sen. Wyden: So moved, Mr. chairman.
▶ 1:07:34Chair Crapo: Second is heard. The question before us is on ordering the taxpayer assistance and service act as modified. The clerk will call the roll. [roll call]
▶ 1:08:59Chair Crapo: The clerk will report. >> final tally is 26 ayes, one nay.
▶ 1:09:08Chair Crapo: The ayes have it. The taxpayer assistance and service act is reported as modified. I as consent of the step be granted customer authority to make technical and conforming and budgetary changes. Without objection, it is so ordered. I want to thank all of my colleagues and your staff for their efforts here today in reporting an important piece of bipartisan legislation. With that, the committee stands adjourned.