Rep. Courtney Supports Taxpayer Protection Act

Press Release

Rep. Courtney Supports Taxpayer Protection Act

Congressman Joe Courtney today joined an overwhelming bipartisan majority in the House of Representatives to pass the Taxpayer Protection Act, legislation that provides taxpayers with stronger protections from identity theft and tax fraud and puts the tax code back on the side of working families.

"I am proud to support the Taxpayer Protection Act because eastern Connecticut's taxpayers deserve a tax code that helps working families, not hurts them," stated Courtney. "The passage of this Act once again proves that bipartisanship in Washington, DC improves the lives of Americans across the country and in eastern Connecticut."

The Taxpayer Protection Act (H.R. 1677):

· Requires the IRS to notify a taxpayer that there may have been unauthorized use of the taxpayer's identity - in the course of a tax fraud investigation.

· Cracks down on misleading websites that seek to get personal information by imitating the IRS, by increasing both civil and criminal penalties for these offenses.

· Simplifies tax filing requirements for businesses owned jointly by husbands and wives.

· Strengthen IRS outreach to make sure that people know that they are entitled to tax refunds or to payments under the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).

· Increases taxpayer protections from "predatory" providers of refund anticipation loans, gives taxpayers more time to recover property seized improperly by the IRS, and works to stop the widespread tax fraud initiated by inmates of federal prisons.

In addition to the Taxpayer Protection Act, the House of Representatives has already passed $1.3 billion in tax cuts to help small businesses grow and hire new workers to keep our economy strong, without adding to the deficit. House Democrats are also committed to ending the "Parent Penalty" and providing a long term fix for the Alternative Minimum Tax.

Source