Official Summaries

National Taxpayer Advocate Enhancement Act of 2025

This bill authorizes the National Taxpayer Advocate to appoint legal counsel within the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) to report directly to the National Taxpayer Advocate. The bill also expands the authority of the National Taxpayer Advocate to take personnel actions with respect to local taxpayer advocates (located in each state) to include actions with respect to any employee of TAS.

Currently, pursuant to a Department of the Treasury order, all legal counsel whose duties include providing legal advice to any official in any office or bureau of Treasury are part of the Legal Division within Treasury and under the supervision of the General Counsel, with limited exceptions. TAS assists taxpayers in matters involving the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and is part of the IRS, within Treasury. 

Current Full Text

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 997 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 997


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

               April 1 (legislative day, March 31), 2025

     Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to conform to the intent of 
 the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, as 
   set forth in the joint explanatory statement of the committee of 
 conference accompanying Conference Report 105-599, that the National 
 Taxpayer Advocate be able to hire and consult counsel as appropriate.

    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 ``National Taxpayer Advocate 
Enhancement Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. AUTHORITY OF TAXPAYER ADVOCATE TO APPOINT COUNSEL.

    (a) In General.--Section 7803(c)(2)(D)(i) of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986 is amended by striking ``and'' at the end of subclause 
(I), by redesignating subclause (II) as subclause (III), and by 
inserting after subclause (I) the following new subclause:
                                    ``(II) appoint counsel in the 
                                Office of the Taxpayer Advocate to 
                                report directly to the National 
                                Taxpayer Advocate, or delegate thereof; 
                                and''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 7803(c)(2)(D)(i)(III) of such 
Code, as redesignated by subsection (a), is amended by striking ``any 
employee of any local office of a taxpayer advocate described in 
subclause (I)'' and inserting ``any employee of the Office of the 
Taxpayer Advocate''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take 
effect as if included in the enactment of section 1102 of the Internal 
Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998.

            Passed the House of Representatives March 31, 2025.

            Attest:

                                             KEVIN F. MCCUMBER,

                                                                 Clerk.