# H.R. 997 (119th): National Taxpayer Advocate Enhancement Act of 2025

National Taxpayer Advocate Enhancement Act of 2025 This bill authorizes the National Taxpayer Advocate to appoint legal counsel within the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) to report directly to the National Taxpayer Advocate. The bill also expands the authority of the National Taxpayer Advocate to take personnel actions with respect to local taxpayer advocates (located in each state) to include actions with respect to any employee of TAS. Currently, pursuant to a Department of the Treasury order, all legal counsel whose duties include providing legal advice to any official in any office or bureau of Treasury are part of the Legal Division within Treasury and under the supervision of the General Counsel, with limited exceptions. TAS assists taxpayers in matters involving the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and is part of the IRS, within Treasury.

## How this bill is scored

Tier: no Tier 1 record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Lane: accountability. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: agency_governance. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: internal_organization. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: taxes. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: taxpayer_advocacy. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Tier 1 sign-off: no record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Stored polarity: mixed. Only tags the rules mark scoreable on a mixed bill are scored. A yea can draw a penalty or a credit according to the tag. A nay on a tag scored as good can draw a penalty.
Roll 85: On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended. Vote type: final_passage.
Polarity rationale: Reviewed enrichment (llm_import) polarity: The bill is a modest governance change. It appears aimed at giving the taxpayer advocate more independent legal capacity and personnel control, which could serve taxpayers against an agency. It also reallocates counsel supervision away from the General Counsel's structure, a prudential question about internal accountability. It restrains no named evil and advances no named moral harm, so it is best read as a mixed prudential measure.
Theological note: The bill concerns how an office that helps taxpayers against the IRS is staffed and supervised. That touches on faithful stewardship, honest administration, and fair treatment of ordinary people dealing with state power. It does not itself address a named moral evil, so its relevance is administrative rather than a direct moral verdict.

## Recorded votes

Roll 85: On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended. Yea 385 · Nay 0 · Other 45.

HTML: https://justmeasure.org/bill/hr-997-119/