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H.R. 9498 · House bill · 119th Congress
This bill authorizes the National Taxpayer Advocate to appear as amicus curiae and submit amicus briefs in a U.S. court in cases involving federal tax law.
Further, the bill requires federal courts to permit such appearances. (An amicus curiae is a person or group that is not a party in a court case but has an interest in the case and may be permitted to submit a brief, known as an amicus brief, to the court in relation to the case.) Under the bill, the National Taxpayer Advocate may present the views of the National Taxpayer Advocate in such a case only with respect to an issue which may broadly affect certain rights of taxpayers.
As background, the National Taxpayer Advocate leads the Taxpayer Advocate Service, which is an independent organization within the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) responsible for helping taxpayers resolve problems with the IRS. The National Taxpayer Advocate is also responsible for proposing administrative and legislative changes to mitigate such problems. Under current law, the National Taxpayer Advocate is not authorized to appear as amicus curiae or submit amicus briefs in cases involving federal tax law.
This Act may be cited as the “Taxpayer Advocate Participation Act”.
(a) In general.— Section 7803(c)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
“(F) Appearances as amicus curiae.—
(i) In general.— The National Taxpayer Advocate may appear as amicus curiae in any action brought in a court of the United States related to Federal tax law. In any such action, the National Taxpayer Advocate may present the views of the National Taxpayer Advocate only with respect to an issue which may broadly affect the rights of taxpayers, particularly the rights described in subsection (a)(3).
(ii) Federal courts.— A court of the United States may grant the application of the National Taxpayer Advocate to appear in any action described in clause (i) for the purposes described in such clause.”.
(b) Effective date.— The amendment made by this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.