Sens. Scott, Hassan introduce bill to protect taxpayers from court errors
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) introduced the Tax Court Parity Act, which would grant the Tax Court authority to review and correct prior decisions in limited circumstances of clerical errors, newly discovered evidence, fraud or misconduct concerns, or defective judgements.
This legislation aims to relieve taxpayers burdened by the current system, address the court’s authority, and align their procedures with that of the federal courts to revisit certain final judgements.
“Taxpayers shouldn’t pay the price for errors made by the Tax Court, and they shouldn’t suffer because of a system riddled with uncertainty,” said Sen. Scott. “My bill brings much-needed clarity by establishing the court’s authority, offering relief in cases where final judgments need to be reconsidered. It adds accountability to the system so that a small business owner in Greenville, a family farmer in the Pee Dee, or a senior citizen in the Lowcountry aren’t forced to pay the consequences for a mistake the court knows it made but technically doesn’t have the legal authority to fix.”
“American taxpayers should have an avenue for relief when a tax court makes a clerical mistake,” said Sen. Hassan. “This commonsense, bipartisan bill would give tax courts the same authority that other federal courts already have to correct errors and address serious problems that come to light after a case is decided.”
Full text of the legislation can be found here.
Background:
- The Tax Court Parity Act would allow the Tax Court to function in a similar manner as the federal courts, where a court is able to revisit a final judgment in limited circumstances, including for clerical mistakes, newly discovered evidence, and concerns of fraud or misconduct.
- The Internal Revenue Code currently fails to address the Tax Court’s authority to revisit a decision.
- The bill would resolve inconsistencies among federal courts of appeal’s decisions over whether the Tax Court has the authority to revisit final judgments.
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