House Panel Approves Meehan IRS Accountability Bill

Statement

The House Ways and Means Committee this morning approved legislation introduced by Congressman Patrick Meehan (R/PA-07) that will improve accountability and customer service at the Internal Revenue Service.

H.R. 4980, which prohibits the IRS from paying bonuses to employees until the Secretary of the Treasury developments and implements a comprehensive customer service strategy at the IRS, was approved by the committee during a markup on Wednesday morning.

"This Friday is tax day, and all across the country American taxpayers are trying to submit the mountains of paperwork that need to be completed by the 15th," said Congressman Meehan. "Many of them are struggling just to communicate with the IRS and get answers to questions or concerns they have. It's not easy. Just one in three callers who attempted to speak with an IRS representative were able to do so last year and average wait times have tripled since 2010."

"But instead of putting more resources into improving the customer experience, the IRS has done the opposite. In 2014 it spent $183 million of user fees on customer service but last year, that number was slashed 75 percent to $49 million."

"The IRS' management has a responsibility to ensure they're putting taxpayers first. Implementing a comprehensive customer service improvement strategy will help more Americans get the level of service they deserve. This legislation will force the IRS' management to do its job before paying out bonuses to IRS employees."

Meehan is a member of the Ways and Means Committee's oversight subcommittee. The committee is the House's tax-writing panel and has jurisdiction over the IRS.

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