Taxpayer Bill of Rights II Overview
The Taxpayer Bill of Rights II was enacted in 1996 to provide increased protections of taxpayer with respect to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and its administration of the tax laws.
The law establishes a Taxpayer Advocate within the IRS, expands the authority to issue Taxpayer Assistance Orders, modifies installment payment agreement provisions, revises provisions relating to abatement of interest and penalties and joint returns, modifies lien and levy and offers-in-compromise provisions, provides that the Government must establish that its position in a proceeding was substantially justified, increases the limit on recovery of civil damages for unauthorized collection actions from $ 100,000 to $ 1,000,000, provides safeguards relating to designated summonses, provides relief from retroactive application of Treasury Department Regulations, requires notice to taxpayers of certain payments and annual reminders to taxpayers with outstanding delinquent accounts, and certain other provisions. The law also applies the failure-to-pay penalty to substitute returns in the same manner as the penalty applies to delinquent filers and provides intermediate sanctions for certain tax-exempt organizations.
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