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With the support of Congressman Bill Posey (R-Rockledge), the U.S. House of Representatives passed several pieces of legislation to strengthen taxpayer protections and bring about a fairer, more accountable and transparent Internal Revenue Service (IRS). For several years the IRS has been plagued by scandal over the illegal targeting of conservative groups, its lack of transparency and violations of confidentiality regarding taxpayer records.

“Absent accountability and transparency, big government is destined to run amuck,” said Congressman Posey. “The voluntary nature of reporting and filing taxes creates a unique relationship between taxpayers and their government. This involves a high level of trust, and for many taxpayers, that trust has been broken due to illegal and unethical behavior at the IRS. Steps must be taken to restore it.”

In April 2013, top IRS official Lois Lerner revealed in a public forum that the agency had been discriminating against more than 75 conservative groups in the run-up to the 2012 election. Since making this revelation, the IRS has stonewalled Congress at every attempt to get at the truth and Ms. Lerner has refused to talk. Investigations by the Inspector General uncovered that IRS email servers had been destroyed and government employees had used their personal email accounts, that confidential taxpayer information pertaining to a Republican Senate candidate was leaked and there are at least eight other instances where taxpayer records were disclosed.

To restore the public trust in the IRS, the House-passed legislation takes steps to improve the quality of service taxpayers receive at the IRS, enhance privacy protections and allow taxpayers a forum to challenge IRS positions. Furthermore, the legislation passed yesterday makes the IRS more accountable by prohibiting employees from conducting government business on personal email accounts, increasing transparency during investigations, and making IRS political targeting a cause for termination.