Eastern Wisconsin’s representative in Congress is looking to eliminate what he calls “rouge IRS agents.”
Congressman Glenn Grothman has introduced a bill, alongside fellow republican Congressmen Tom McClintock of California and Greg Steube of Florida, which he says will “overturn a Biden-era rule that would give broad authority to nearly every IRS employee to levy fines against taxpayers.”
Previously, an IRS agent’s “immediate supervisor” would provide a signature of approval at the initial determination of a tax penalty.
However, in December of 2024, the IRS released a final rule to significantly weaken this important taxpayer protection.
In their final rule, IRS defines an “immediate supervisor” not as a person to whom an IRS agent reports, but instead as “any individual with responsibility to review another individual’s proposal of penalties.”
Grothman said that this rule “would embolden the IRS to increase the number of unjust penalties against Americans…The IRS mandate should not be to levy fines as erratically as possible, it should be to treat taxpayers fairly and with respect.”
The measure is supported by Americans for Tax Reform, the National Taxpayers Union, and the Taxpayers Protection Alliance.
