Taxpayer Protection Act of 2016

Taxpayer Protection Act of 2016

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish additional requirements and procedures for collecting taxes, regulating tax preparers, responding to identity theft, and assisting low-income taxpayers.

The bill repeals the authority of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to contract with private companies to collect federal tax debts. It also excludes from the gross income of an individual up to $10,000 of income from the discharge of a debt over the individual's lifetime.

The bill requires the statute of limitations for a taxpayer's case to continue to run during a pending application for assistance from the National Taxpayer Advocate.

The bill also:

• establishes limitations on IRS levies of retirement accounts,
• suspends the time limit for returning wrongfully levied property if a taxpayer is financially disabled,
• increases the grace period for withdrawing a frivolous return, and
• repeals the requirement to submit a partial payment with an offer-in-compromise to settle a tax liability.

The IRS must notify victims of identity theft regarding an unauthorized use of the taxpayer's identity or the filing of criminal charges regarding the use of the identity.

The IRS must also: (1) permit its employees to refer taxpayers to low-income taxpayer clinics, and (2) notify taxpayers who are eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit.

The IRS may regulate paid tax return preparers and disclose returns or return information necessary to publish decisions related to tax return preparer misconduct.

The bill provides additional funding to the IRS for Taxpayer Services and increases the funding that the IRS may allocate to low-income taxpayer clinics.