On the recordJuly 20, 2011
as Congress continues to debate ways to reduce our national deficit, some Members of Congress are taking the time to reflect on the state of the Federal tax system and consider how we can simplify it and make it more efficient and fair. Today, as part of that effort, I along with my colleague Senator Begich are introducing legislation aimed at simplifying and modernizing the existing system for filing Federal tax liens, a key tool used by the Treasury to collect unpaid taxes. The bill has been endorsed by Citizens for Tax Justice, Tax Justice Network, Public Citizen, US Public Interest Research Group, and the FACT Coalition, an organization of public interest and business groups concerned with tax fairness. It has been 45 years since Congress has made any significant changes to the laws regulating how the Internal Revenue Service, IRS, files Federal tax liens. Right now, outdated laws are forcing the IRS to waste taxpayer dollars on an old-fashioned, inefficient, and burdensome paper-based filing system spread out over 4,000 locations that should be replaced by a modernized electronic filing system capable of operating at a fraction of the cost. It is time to bring the Federal tax lien system into the 21st century.…
