Yakym votes to advance legislation to fight fraud and improve tax system 

Congressman Rudy Yakym (IN-02) released the following statement today after joining his colleagues in advancing key pieces of legislation out of the House Ways and Means Committee aimed at cracking down on fraud and improving the tax system: 

"Fraudsters ran rampant during COVID, taking advantage of states like California that had weak fraud protections in their unemployment insurance systems. We can’t let them off the hook by letting the statute of limitations expire.

"We also must continue to make improvements in the way the IRS administers the tax code, making sure it addresses fraud quickly, operates in a transparent manner, and doesn’t penalize Americans for accidental issues.

"I look forward to continuing to advocate for these policies alongside my colleagues to ensure that fraudsters get caught and that our tax system operates as efficiently and effectively as possible."

The House Ways and Means Committee held a markup Wednesday of H.R. 997, H.R. 998, H.R. 1152, H.R. 1155, and H.R. 1156, pieces of legislation intended to strengthen accountability, transparency and customer service within the tax system. The bills were ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives. 

• H.R. 1156, the Pandemic Unemployment Fraud Enforcement Act, would extend the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution and civil enforcement actions in pandemic unemployment programs from five to 10 years.

• H.R. 997, the National Taxpayer Advocate Enhancement Act, would authorize the National Taxpayer Advocate to hire attorneys that report directly to her.

• H.R. 998, the Internal Revenue Service Math and Taxpayer Help Act, would require the IRS to provide clear explanations of math error notices and allows the taxpayer 60 days to challenge the IRS action.

• H.R. 1152, the Electronic Filing and Payment Fairness Act, would ensure that an electronic payment or document submitted by midnight to the IRS is considered timely, even if the IRS does not receive and process it that day.

• H.R. 1155, the Recovery of Stolen Checks Act, would allow a taxpayer whose paper check is lost or stolen to elect to receive the replacement via direct deposit.