The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) applauded the approval by the House Ways and Means Committee of two bipartisan bills that would improve transparency and fairness for taxpayers. The AICPA has long supported the proposals and will continue to work to advance comprehensive proposals that enhance Internal Revenue Service (IRS) operations and improve the taxpayer experience.
Among the bills supported by the AICPA are H.R. 1152, the Electronic Filing and Payment Fairness Act, and H.R. 998, the Internal Revenue Service Math and Taxpayer Help Act.
The Electronic Filing and Payment Fairness Act would apply the “mailbox rule” to electronically submitted tax returns and payments. Currently, documents and payments properly addressed and sent via the U.S. mail by the due date is considered timely, even if it is received later – this is known as the “mailbox rule.” This legislation expands that rule to include electronically submitted documents and payments that are submitted by the due date, even if the IRS processes them at a later date.
The IRS Math and Taxpayer Help Act aims to improve the transparency of the IRS in addressing and rectifying simple accounting mistakes on taxpayers’ returns. The Internal Revenue Code allows the IRS to make “math error” corrections, which are expedited adjustments to tax returns containing simple math or clerical errors.
“The AICPA is pleased that these bills have been included in the markup and is encouraged by the momentum generated by these provisions moving forward in a bipartisan way,” said Melanie Lauridsen, Vice President of Tax Policy & Advocacy for the AICPA. “These policies are common-sense reforms that will significantly help taxpayers, tax practitioners and tax administration, and we assert our strong support for these bills. We look forward to continuing our work with the committee to advance comprehensive proposals to achieve these goals.”
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Tags: Accounting, Taxes
