Taxpayer Protections in the IRS Restructuring Bill: Attorneys' Fees and Damages for IRS Abuses

Publication Date: June 1998

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

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Research Area: Banking and finance

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Abstract:

The Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1997, H.R. 2676, 105 Congress, contains a number of provisions designed to strengthen taxpayer rights in dealings with the Internal Revenue Service. The House passed its version of the bill on November 5, 1997. The Senate passed it version on May 7, 1998. This is one of a series of CRS reports designed to discuss certain taxpayer protection and rights provisions in that bill. This report discusses the proposals to expand a court's authority to award attorneys' fees and costs in certain cases and the proposal to permit a taxpayer to collect damages for negligent collection actions by IRS agents. These provisions are covered in sections 311 and 312 of the House version and in sections 3101 and 3102 of the Senate version.