Ways and Means advances seven tax bills

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The House Ways and Means Committee advanced seven tax bills on July 1, five on a broad bipartisan basis. 

• H.R. 9504, the Tax-Exempt Hospital Transparency Act, introduced by Reps. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., and Lloyd Smucker, R-Pa. The bill would require tax-exempt hospitals to include a description of how they are addressing the needs identified in the most recent community health needs assessment under Section 501(r)(3) and a description of needs not being addressed, with rationale as to why not.
  This requirement would be in addition to audited financial statements, a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services certification number, an estimate of the value of financial assistance during the taxable year, as well as statistics regarding granted financial assistance and overall applications.
  The bill was reported favorably out of committee as an amendment in the nature of the substitute (PDF - 76.69KB) that included a minor change authored by Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., by a vote of 25-15. In opposing the measure, Democrats on the committee argued that the added requirements would increase the administrative burden for hospitals while not lowering healthcare costs and would take a toll on rural communities that rely heavily on not-for-profit facilities. 
• H.R. 7972, the Taxpayer Workforce Modernization Act. The bill would require the IRS to establish a fellowship to attract data scientists and further utilize data science in audits, beginning through a new task force. The bill was introduced by Rep. David Schweikert, R-Ariz., with a final amendment in the nature of a substitute (PDF - 51.14KB) that made minor language changes and advanced out of committee by a vote of 24-16. Democrats, who unanimously opposed the bill, argued that they support modernization efforts at the IRS and the premise of the legislation but could not support what they view as an inadequate measure to backfill the experienced data scientists dismissed last year by the Trump administration.
• H.R. 9498, The Taxpayer Advocate Participation Act, introduced by Reps. Greg Steube, R-Fla., and Suzan DelBene, D-Wash. The bill would allow the Taxpayer Advocate to participate in legal actions as an amicus curiae, to present the views of taxpayers as context in proceedings that could broadly impact taxpayers. It was advanced, as an amendment in the nature of a substitute (PDF - 37.21KB) with minor changes by Smith, by 39-0.
• H.R. 9500, the Tax Relief for Fraud Victims Act, introduced by Reps. Max Miller, R-Ohio, and Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y. The bill would repeal the disallowance of a deduction for personal casualty losses that exceed personal casualty gains and not derived from a federal- or state-declared disaster, among other provisions. It was reported favorably, in the form of an amendment in the nature of a substitute (PDF - 54.86KB) with minor changes, by a vote of 39-0.
• H.R. 9501, the AI Tax Integrity Act. This bill, introduced by Reps. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., Aaron Bean, R-Fla., David Schweikert, R-Ariz., and Steven Horsford, D-Nev., would establish a pilot program to use artificial intelligence to identify inaccurate tax returns, with an emphasis on identity theft, fraudulent earned income tax credit claims, and returns prepared by a third party that is not properly identified on the return. The legislation advanced, in the form of an amendment in the nature of a substitute (PDF - 37.79KB) with minor changes, by a vote of 40-0.
• H.R. 9499, the Protecting Taxpayers from Ghost Preparers Act. Introduced by Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., the bill would expand the definition of a tax return to include documents submitted as filings, including an administrative adjustment request under Section 6227 or a partnership adjustment tracking report under Section 6226(b)(4)(A), in order to apply tax preparer return penalties to documents that could alter a taxpayer’s compliance with the law but would not result in consequences for the tax preparer.
  The legislation was reported favorably by the committee, in the form of an amendment in the nature of a substitute (PDF - 43.97KB), by a vote of 40-0.
• H.R. 9496, the End Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act. Introduced by Reps. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., Dina Titus, D-Nev., and Don Beyer, D-Va. If made law, the Treasury and State departments would begin a program to allow people who were illegally detained for a period beginning Jan. 1, 2021, to be eligible for abatement and refunds of penalties resulting from their lack of tax filings during the period of detention. The bill was advanced in the form of an amendment in the nature of a substitute (PDF - 60.84KB) by a vote of 40-0.