Congress clarifies IRS Advocate's power to hire lawyers for taxpayers
H.R. 997 — National Taxpayer Advocate Enhancement Act of 2025 · Filed by Randy Feenstra (R-IA) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Feb 5, 2025 · Passed chamber
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to clarify that the National Taxpayer Advocate—an independent official within the IRS who represents taxpayers in disputes with the agency—can hire and directly supervise counsel (lawyers) in their office. The bill retroactively aligns the law with what Congress intended in 1998 but did not clearly state, giving the Advocate explicit authority to build a legal team.
Why we flagged it
The bill is a narrow, technical amendment to clarify an existing office's hiring authority. It is not a substantive policy change but a legislative correction to align statutory language with congressional intent from 1998.
What the text implies
- Retroactive effective date (as if included in 1998 law) may resolve past disputes over whether the Advocate had authority to hire counsel, potentially validating prior hiring decisions or legal work product.
- Explicit appointment authority may strengthen the Advocate's independence from IRS management, since counsel would report directly to the Advocate rather than through IRS HR channels.
The full analysis lists 3 implications of this text.
Who it affects
The National Taxpayer Advocate is an independent office created to represent ordinary taxpayers against the IRS. Clarifying the Advocate's authority to hire counsel strengthens that office's ability to defend taxpayer rights and provide legal assistance in disputes.