Today, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) delivered the following remarks during House debate on H.R. 997, the National Taxpayer Advocate Enhancement Act. 

As prepared for delivery.

“I rise today in support of H.R. 997, the National Taxpayer Advocate Enhancement Act, introduced by my Ways and Means colleagues Representatives Feenstra and Davis.

“The National Taxpayer Advocate exists to promote and defend the rights of American taxpayers. In order to achieve these goals, not only should the Advocate be independent from the IRS, but the staff assisting the Advocate should be as well. And yet, right now, the attorneys hired to assist the National Taxpayer Advocate report to IRS legal counsel, are accountable to IRS legal counsel, and answer to IRS legal counsel. Not the Taxpayer Advocate.

“It’s a situation that begs for conflicts of interest to occur. It risks undermining the ability of the National Taxpayer Advocate to trust that the legal advice she receives is without any undue influence from the IRS. It certainly undermines the ability of the American taxpayer to have faith that the Taxpayer Advocate Service is adhering to its mission.

“The National Taxpayer Advocate Enhancement Act gives the NTA the authority to hire her own lawyers who will report directly to her – rather than be accountable to the IRS, the very agency whose behavior the Advocate exists to scrutinize and defend against.

“The American people have a well-founded fear of the IRS given its dismal track record of violating the rights of taxpayers. The very least we can do is ensure that an entity that exists to fight on behalf of taxpayers actually has a clearly defined and reinforced independence from the IRS.

“I want to thank Representatives Feenstra and Davis for their bipartisan leadership on this issue and advocating for the rights of American taxpayers.”