PRINTER'S NO. 791
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No.
141
Session of
2015
INTRODUCED BY KORTZ, SAMUELSON, BAKER, JAMES, DIAMOND,
LONGIETTI, BARRAR, COHEN, BARBIN, MILLARD, McCARTER,
READSHAW, GABLER, GILLEN, ROZZI, MURT, McNEILL, BOBACK,
EVERETT, STAATS AND RADER, MARCH 3, 2015
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON FINANCE, MARCH 3, 2015
A RESOLUTION
Urging the Department of Corrections to enter into a Memorandum
of Understanding with the Internal Revenue Service to address
the ongoing problem of incarcerated individuals filing
fraudulent tax returns and receiving a refund.
WHEREAS, Recent news reports have highlighted cases in which
prisoners filed fraudulent tax returns and subsequently received
illegal refunds; and
WHEREAS, The Treasury Inspector General for Tax
Administration (TIGTA) issued a 2010 report outlining the scope
of this growing problem; and
WHEREAS, The TIGTA reported that about 88% of the 287,918 tax
returns identified as filed by prisoners were not selected for
screening; and
WHEREAS, An estimated 48,887 prisoners who filed tax returns
had no wage information reported by employers; and
WHEREAS, Despite this lack of information, these prisoners
claimed refunds totaling more than $130 million, including
Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) claims of $78.5 million; and
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WHEREAS, The report recommended that legislation be enacted
on the Federal level to expand Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
access to the Department of Health and Human Services wage
information; and
WHEREAS, Current law allows only the IRS to access National
Directory of New Hires (NDNH) wage information for tax returns
in which the individual is claiming EITC; and
WHEREAS, Legislation has been repeatedly proposed in the
Congress of the United States to expand IRS access to NDNH wage
data without success; and
WHEREAS, States such as New York, Minnesota and Florida have
entered Memorandum of Understanding agreements with IRS in an
effort to minimize fraudulent tax claims filed by prisoners
through information sharing since legislation has stalled on the
Federal level; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives urge the
Department of Corrections to enter into a Memorandum of
Understanding agreement with the Internal Revenue Service to
address the ongoing problem of incarcerated individuals filing
fraudulent tax returns and receiving a refund.
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