BARCODE Efficiency Act

Hozzl · 2026-05-01T06:38:22Z

Explore the details of House Bill 6956 BARCODE Efficiency Act currently in Congress. Get insights into its purpose, current status, sponsors, and potential impact on Taxation. Stay informed on legislative developments.

5/1/2026, 6:38 AM

Summary of Bill HR 6956

The "BARCODE Efficiency Act" introduced in the 119th Congress aims to enhance efficiency in barcode technology utilization. The bill, designated as H.R. 6956 and introduced on January 7, 2026, focuses on improving barcode standards and implementation across various sectors. Specific directives regarding barcode systems are expected to be detailed in the bill, which can be accessed through the provided PDF link on the official congressional website.

Congressional Summary of HR 6956

Barcode Automation for Revenue Collection to Organize Disbursement and Enhance Efficiency Act or the BARCODE Efficiency Act

This bill requires the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to use barcodes, barcode scanning technology, and optical character recognition (or similar) technology to digitize certain federal tax return information and correspondence, unless the technology is slower or less reliable than other IRS processes (subject to conditions).

Specifically, the bill requires a scannable barcode on electronically-prepared federal tax returns that are printed and filed in paper format with the IRS. The bill also requires the IRS to use barcode scanning technology to convert data included on such returns into an electronic format.

Further, the bill requires the IRS to use optical character recognition (or similar) technology to transcribe federal tax returns and correspondence received by the IRS that are not prepared electronically and are received in paper format.

However, under the bill, the use of barcodes, barcode scanning technology, and optical character recognition (or similar) technology is not required if (1) such technology is slower or less reliable than manual transcription or any other IRS process, and (2) the IRS provides a report to Congress regarding the determination to not use such technology.

Read the Full Bill

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Current Status of Bill HR 6956

Bill HR 6956 is currently in the status of Introduced to Senate since April 28, 2026. Bill HR 6956 was introduced during Congress 119 and was introduced to the House on January 7, 2026. Bill HR 6956's most recent activity was Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. as of April 28, 2026

Bipartisan Support of Bill HR 6956

Total Number of Sponsors

Democrat Sponsors

Republican Sponsors

Unaffiliated Sponsors

Total Number of Cosponsors

Democrat Cosponsors

Republican Cosponsors

Unaffiliated Cosponsors

Policy Area and Potential Impact of Bill HR 6956

Primary Policy Focus

Taxation

Potential Impact Areas

- Computers and information technology

- Digital media

- Government information and archives

- Tax administration and collection, taxpayers

Alternate Title(s) of Bill HR 6956

To require electronically prepared tax returns to include scannable code when submitted on paper, and to require the use of optical character recognition technology for paper documents received by the Internal Revenue Service.