The House Appropriations Committee on June 13, 2018 approved a $23.4 billion Financial Services and General Government funding bill for fiscal year 2019 that includes increased spending for IRS.
The measure provides an additional $77 million as requested by the White House to help implement the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA; P.L. 115-97) signed into law in late 2017. Congress had already approved an additional $320 million in March 2018 for the same purpose.
The spending bill also includes a provision that prevents IRS from denying a tax exemption under Code Sec. 501(a) with respect to a church for participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office unless determined by the IRS Commissioner that the exemption should be denied. The IRS Commissioner has 30 days to notify the tax writing committees of such a decision.
The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government on June 19, 2018 advanced a $23.688 billion funding measure of which IRS would receive $11.263 billion, with $77 million dedicated to implementation of tax reform. IRS funding in both bills represents approximately $186 million more than the 2018 funding level.
In addition, the bill includes: a prohibition on funds for bonuses or to rehire former employees unless employee conduct and tax compliance is given consideration; a prohibition on funds for IRS to target groups for regulatory scrutiny based on their ideological beliefs; a prohibition on funds for IRS to target individuals for exercising their First Amendment rights; and a prohibition on funds for the production of inappropriate videos and conferences.
The bill will be considered by the full Senate Appropriations Committee on June 21, 2018 before being sent to the Senate floor for final approval. The measure would then need to be reconciled with the House version.
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Read more at: Tax Times blog
