To: Members of the Senate Finance Committee
From: National Taxpayers Union
Date: July 30, 2026
Subject: NTU’s Views on July 30 Committee Markup
I. Introduction and Key Taxpayer Considerations
National Taxpayers Union (NTU), America’s oldest national-level taxpayer advocacy organization, is a strong supporter of S. 3931, the Taxpayer Assistance and Service (TAS) Act. We believe that this legislation is easily the most consequential package of tax administration and taxpayer rights improvements to come before Congress in decades. A number of amendments on the master list assembled by the Senate Finance Committee for today’s markup would help improve its benefits to taxpayers, while others would do the opposite. We describe our positions on these amendments below, in hopes that this historic bipartisan bill remains one that merits the support of Senate Finance Committee members.
II. NTU’s Views on Master Amendments under Consideration at July 30 Markup
On July 29, the Committee released a summary list of 15 amendments that will be considered during the markup. Over half of them would help advance the purposes of the bill, while several would undermine taxpayer rights and its bipartisan history.
Finance Amendment 2 (Lankford/Warnock) - SUPPORT
“To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to clarify the right to appeal determinations regarding Federal tax controversies, and for other purpose”
This amendment would ensure that tax-exempt organizations are provided the right to appeal when the IRS makes a determination to deny or revoke exempt status. This brings tax-exempt organizations in alignment with the appeals protections offered to for-profit organizations and fosters a fair administrative review process.
Finance Amendment 3 (Daines/Cortez Masto) - SUPPORT
“Increase criminal and civil penalties for unauthorized disclosure of taxpayer information and extend criminal liability to IRS contractors who fail to implement section 6103 safeguards.”
This is another straightforward, bipartisan amendment that protects taxpayers from the unauthorized disclosure of their confidential tax return and financial information. It strengthens penalties for unauthorized disclosures and holds IRS contractors to the same standard as IRS employees to safeguard taxpayer data. The penalties and criminal liability in current law do not adequately recognize the importance of protecting sensitive financial information or provide a sufficient deterrence against misconduct.
Finance Amendment 5 (Bennet) - OPPOSE
“Prepopulation Program for Tax Returns”
This amendment would pave the path for the IRS to make determinations about taxpayers’ liabilities without taxpayer involvement. Allowing taxpayers to file their own tax returns provides the opportunity to review the accuracy of W-2 and other statements, separate reportable transactions from nonreportable transactions, and claim any eligible credits and deductions. The IRS’s long history of recordkeeping mishaps, as well as its inherent incentive as the tax collection agency to collect more tax than is owed, raises serious concern about prepopulating forms. Taxpayers could feel intimidated by the IRS, even if they do believe there were errors in prepopulated forms, and simply accept the numbers provided without challenging the Service.
Finance Amendment 6 (Warner) - SUPPORT
“National Taxpayer Advocate Publication of Performance Statistics”
This amendment would incorporate S. 4302, the “Improving IRS Customer Service Act” into the overall TAS Act. This bipartisan bill, sponsored by Senators Warner and Cassidy, would require the National Taxpayer Advocate (NTA) publish a series of statistics every month on their website, including cases opened, time taken to assign to a caseworker, and the number of open cases. The NTA would also have to create a website tool for taxpayers to estimate possible case resolution time, and to provide the tax writing committees in Congress with an annual report on this data on a nationwide basis. This amendment would provide Congress and the public with more information regarding the level of services provided by the Taxpayer Advocate Service. Local services are a vital tool for the IRS to reach underserved communities as well as those that receive inadequate phone and online services.
Finance Amendment 7 (Whitehouse/Cassidy) - SUPPORT
“Fairness in foreign filing”
The underlying bill would improve IRS services for Americans living abroad. This bipartisan amendment would build on that reform to protect them from exorbitant penalties for nonwillful noncompliance with a confusing and burdensome tax system. It would increase administrative review, ensure that international filing dates correspond with typical tax filing deadlines, and establish a default set of rules for penalty assessments.
Finance Amendment 10 (Cortez Masto / Blackburn) - SUPPORT
“Electronic Filing Identification Number Validation”
If passed by the Committee, this amendment would incorporate S. 5111, the SECURE Tax Filing Act, to help combat tax fraud. This measure would require Treasury to create a secure, automated, and high-volume system for validating Electronic Filing Identification Numbers. The process would be expected to provide a timely response to queries on account validity and authorization, and be set up to limit access to authorized requesters. This bipartisan reform would set up a system similar to what is already in place for Social Security numbers, and would help prevent scammers from using stolen taxpayer data to file fake returns.
Finance Amendment 10 (Warren/Wyden) - OPPOSE
“Direct File Act”
This amendment would go even further than the pilot program proposed in Amendment #5 by reviving and rapidly expanding the failed Direct File pilot previously implemented by the IRS. It would require accessibility for at least half of taxpayers in participating states within a year.
NTU’s research arm, NTU Foundation, has written extensively about Direct File. The program was not cost effective even when it only served taxpayers with relatively simple returns in a handful of states. Reviving Direct File would be duplicative with the Free File program already in place under IRS oversight, and would divert IRS funding and staff time from higher priority modernization projects. Direct File died a merciful death last year, and should not be resurrected.
Finance Amendment 13 (Smith) - SUPPORT
“Reporting on Document Management to Avoid Duplicative Requests to Constituents”
While NTU generally does not weigh in on measures that aim to generate reports for Congress, as agencies are already expected to produce a multitude of them that are frequently underused by members and committees, we find this amendment to be useful for taxpayers. It would require an annual report to the Committee describing IRS efforts to track paper and electronic documents from taxpayers, including work being conducted to limit lost documents and duplicative document requests, as well as the document retention process. This annual report would also be expected to include information about modernization projects and barriers encountered in making needed improvements.
Finance Amendments 14 & 15 (Smith) - SUPPORT
#14 - “IRS Guidance to Creditors and Employee Training on Coerced Indebtedness”
#15 - “Report on the IRS’s Administrative Handling of Cancellation of Indebtedness Forms and Related Data Regarding Coerced Debt”
Both of these amendments deal with “coerced debt,” which occurs when an abuser uses various tactics to force a survivor to incur debt. It is generally related to cases of human trafficking, identity theft, and domestic violence. Recent tax changes in several states have created tax benefits for these survivors, creating potential federal tax administration issues, including unexpected assessments after a survivor escapes an abusive situation.
The first Amendment, #14, would require the IRS to issue guidance for creditors regarding tax administration issues related to these cases, as well as provide information to survivors on how to make clear their correct tax status with the IRS. Employees of the IRS would also be trained on how to process these cases to ensure fair treatment of survivors. The final Amendment, #15, would require the IRS to send a public report to the Committee regarding administrative procedures on coerced debt and steps needed to build statistics on these cases.
IV. Conclusion and Contact Information
We appreciate the willingness of the Finance Committee to markup the TAS Act in this legislative session. This historic, bipartisan measure will ease the burden of compliance for taxpayers across the country by strengthening taxpayer rights and providing the IRS with tools to improve the quality of taxpayer services. The amendments we have supported above will help make a great bill even stronger, and we urge your support for these measures.
Should you have any questions about the recommendations in this memo, please do not hesitate to reach out to David Timmons (dtimmons@ntu.org).