Expansion of online accounts

(a) In general Not later than January 1 of the first calendar year beginning more than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall make available a website or mobile application which allows any taxpayer (including any taxpayer residing outside of the United States) the ability to— (1) in a manner consistent with any applicable limitations under section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, view any return (as defined in section 6103(b)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986), document, notice, or letter (with the exception of any educational item which has no legal effect) which, during the applicable period (as defined in subsection (d)), has been— (A) sent by the Internal Revenue Service to such taxpayer, or (B) filed with (or, in the case of any document not required to be filed, sent to) the Internal Revenue Service— (i) by such taxpayer, (ii) by a person described in subsection (c) of section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 with respect to such taxpayer, or (iii) with respect to such taxpayer in a manner described in subsection (e) of such section, (2) with respect to any document, notice, or letter sent to such taxpayer by the Internal Revenue Service, respond to such document, notice, or letter by uploading or otherwise transmitting the taxpayer's response through the website or mobile application, and (3) in the case of— (A) any representative of such taxpayer who is authorized to practice before the Department of the Treasury pursuant to section 330 of title 31, United States Code, (B) any tax return preparer (as defined in section 7701(a)(36) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) with an identifying number (as described in section 6109(a)(4) of such Code), or (C) any qualified reporting agent, permit such representative, preparer, or agent, to the extent authorized by the taxpayer, to access the information described in paragraph (1) or transmit any information described in paragraph (2). (b) Availability for viewing With respect to any return, document, notice, or letter described in paragraph (1) of subsection (a), such return, document, notice, or letter shall be made available for viewing by the taxpayer (or, pursuant to paragraph (3) of such subsection, any representative, tax return preparer, or qualified reporting agent authorized by the taxpayer) as soon as is practicable and within such periods as are established pursuant to regulations prescribed by the Secretary. (c) Access to multiple accounts by representative, preparer, or agent For purposes of subsection (a)(3), the website or mobile application shall allow a representative, tax return preparer, or qualified reporting agent to be able to access information for multiple taxpayers who have provided permission under such subsection without any requirement to individually and separately access the account of each such taxpayer. (d) Applicable period (1) In general Subject to paragraph (2), for purposes of subsection (a)(1), the term applicable period means the preceding 6-year period. (2) Prospective application The term applicable period shall not include any years ending before the date of enactment of this Act. (e) Qualified reporting agent (1) In general For purposes of this section, the term qualified reporting agent means a person— (A) which is properly authorized as an agent to sign and file employment tax returns, make related payments and deposits, and perform such other acts on behalf of a taxpayer under procedures set forth by the Secretary, (B) which has met such requirements as may be established by the Secretary, and (C) for which authorization has not been revoked or suspended by the Secretary pursuant to procedures established by the Secretary. (2) Employment tax return For purposes of paragraph (1)(A), the term employment tax return means— (A) any return required to be filed by an employer to report the obligations of the employer and its employees under section 3101, 3111, 3301, or 3402 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and (B) such other returns as designated by the Secretary. (f) Preventing unauthorized disclosure of return information by persons designated by taxpayers Not later than January 1 of the first calendar year beginning more than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall— (1) establish a program to investigate and address— (A) any access, use, or disclosure of return information (as defined in section 6103(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) by any person which is in excess of the authorization permitted to such person pursuant to subsection (a)(3), and (B) any related misconduct, and (2) annually publish, on the public website of the Internal Revenue Service, the actions undertaken pursuant to the program described in paragraph (1), such as the number of complaints investigated, the number of persons whose access was revoked, and other relevant statistical data. (g) Focus groups For purposes of subsection (a), prior to the date that the website or mobile application described in such subsection is made available, the Secretary shall conduct focus groups with taxpayers and tax professionals to ensure that any amounts appropriated or otherwise made available for such purposes are expended in an appropriate manner.