HR-7971 — Taxpayer Experience Improvement Act

YourVoice.Now Summary

Your MoneyCivil LibertiesCorporate BenefitsTransparency & Accountability

Track your refund online and see why it's stuck — plus live IRS phone wait times.

Your Money

Refund tracking with real dates — see when money arrives

The IRS would run a website and app that show whether your return arrived, is done, or is on hold. They would also show the date your refund should reach you.

Reasons your refund is held up — plus what to send

If the IRS pauses your return, the site would name the reason. It would also list what to send and the date it is due.

Online IRS account for your records — six years of letters

The IRS would build an account you can open on a website or phone. It would hold up to six years of returns, notices, and letters, counting forward from the day the bill becomes law.

Answering IRS notices online — no mailing paper responses

You could upload your answer to an IRS notice instead of mailing it back. This part would open about 18 months after the bill becomes law.

Civil Liberties

Protection from misuse of your tax records — new IRS investigations

Preparers and agents you approve could see your tax records through the new account. The IRS would have to run a program that looks into anyone who views or shares those records beyond what you allowed.

Corporate Benefits

Tax preparers' bulk access to client accounts — one login, many clients

Tax preparers, payroll agents, and other approved representatives could reach all of their clients' accounts from one login. They would not have to sign in to each client account one at a time. Each client still has to give permission.

Transparency & Accountability

Live public dashboard of IRS phone waits — updated in real time

For each IRS phone line, the site would show how many people are waiting and the longest wait so far. It would also give an estimated wait and say whether callbacks are on.

Monthly IRS call stats published — including calls the IRS dropped

Each month the IRS would post average and median wait and call times for each line. The count also covers calls the IRS itself cut off and calls it had to transfer.

Weekly notice when IRS falls behind — backlogs over 21 days

If the IRS has not worked through a type of return it received at least 21 days earlier, it must say so the next week. The notice gives the oldest date it did get to.

Yearly public report on tax-record misuse — complaints and access revoked

Once a year the IRS would publish what its misuse program did. That includes how many complaints it looked into and how many people lost access.

Anyone can pull IRS wait-time data — open programming access

The IRS would offer a data feed so outside groups can pull the phone numbers themselves. Anyone could build a tool or web page that shows them.

More about this bill

If you are waiting on a tax refund, you could track it online and see when it should arrive. The IRS would have to show whether your return was received, finished, or stopped. If it is stopped, the site would tell you why and what papers to send. You could also see how the refund is coming — the bank account, or the address for a paper check. This would start about a year after the bill becomes law. Calling the IRS would change too. The IRS would post live wait times for its phone lines on a public web page. It would also post a weekly notice when any type of return falls more than 21 days behind. About a year and a half in, you could open an IRS account online. There you could read six years of IRS letters and returns. You could also answer IRS notices without mailing paper. Taxpayers living abroad would get the same access. Congress also says the IRS should offer callbacks by 2028, but that part is only a goal.

Congressional Summary

This bill requires the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to provide certain information related to call volume, wait times, and other metrics. The bill also expands online taxpayer accounts and electronic access to federal tax return and refund information.Specifically, the bill requires the IRS to provide in real time on its public website the number of callers for each applicable phone number extension that are (1) connected to speak with an IRS representative, (2) connected to speak with an automated system, and (3) waiting to speak with either an IRS representative or an automated system.The website also must includethe longest wait time of any caller waiting to speak with an IRS representative;the estimated wait time to speak with an IRS representative;if a callback service is available or when such service is scheduled to be available; andcertain monthly metrics, including the average and median wait times and call lengths.Further, the bill expresses the sense of Congress that, by 2028, the IRS should provide an option to receive a callback for any call that is not answered within five minutes.Finally, the bill requires the IRS to make available (via website or mobile application) to any taxpayer certain information, includingtax returns, documents, notices, or letters sent to the taxpayer by the IRS or filed with (or sent to) the IRS by the taxpayer;the status of a federal tax return or refund; andan estimated date for receipt of a refund.

Details

Congress: 119th
Chamber: House
Status: summarized
Action: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Action Date: 2026-04-28
Date Added: 2026-04-09
Source: Congress.gov →

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