Restructuring the Internal Revenue Service: A Comparison of Two Major Bills in the 105th Congress

Publication Date: July 1998

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

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Research Area: Government

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Abstract:

In the 105th Congress, the Senate and the House passed broadly similar versions of H.R. 2676, a bill that would restructure the Internal Revenue Service. The House passed its proposal on November 5, 1997; the Senate approved its version of the bill May 7, 1998. On June 24, a Conference Committee reported its version of the bill; the Conference version added a reduction in the holding period for favorable capital gains treatment from 18 months to 1 year. The House approved the Conference bill on June 25. The legislation stems from the 1997 report of the National Commission to Restructure the IRS.1 It creates an Oversight Board with private sector members as well as government officials; it directs the IRS to undertake organizational changes; it provides new protections and rights for taxpayers in their dealings with the IRS. This CRS report describes the main elements of the House and Senate bills and the conference agreement, but a detailed comparison is beyond its limited scope. It will be updated when the Senate takes action on the conference report.