Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (Div. P) (P.L. 114-113)
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (Div. P) (P.L. 114-113)
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H.R. 2029, Enrolled Bill
One Hundred fourteenth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE FIRST SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday, the sixth
day of January, two thousand and fifteen
An Act
[Editor's note: Asterisks indicate omitted text.]
Making appropriations for military construction, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2016, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the "Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016".
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DIVISION D -- ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT AND
RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2016
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INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE
TAXPAYER SERVICES
For necessary expenses of the Internal Revenue Service to provide taxpayer services, including pre-filing assistance and education, filing and account services, taxpayer advocacy services, and other services as authorized by 5 U.S.C. 3109, at such rates as may be determined by the Commissioner, $2,156,554,000, of which not less than $6,500,000 shall be for the Tax Counseling for the Elderly Program, of which not less than $12,000,000 shall be available for low-income taxpayer clinic grants, and of which not less than $15,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 2017, shall be available for a Community Volunteer Income Tax Assistance matching grants program for tax return preparation assistance, of which not less than $206,000,000 shall be available for operating expenses of the Taxpayer Advocate Service: Provided, That of the amounts made available for the Taxpayer Advocate Service, not less than $5,000,000 shall be for identity theft casework.
ENFORCEMENT
For necessary expenses for tax enforcement activities of the Internal Revenue Service to determine and collect owed taxes, to provide legal and litigation support, to conduct criminal investigations, to enforce criminal statutes related to violations of internal revenue laws and other financial crimes, to purchase and hire passenger motor vehicles (31 U.S.C. 1343(b)), and to provide other services as authorized by 5 U.S.C. 3109, at such rates as may be determined by the Commissioner, $4,860,000,000, of which not to exceed $50,000,000 shall remain available until September 30, 2017, and of which not less than $60,257,000 shall be for the Interagency Crime and Drug Enforcement program.
OPERATIONS SUPPORT
For necessary expenses of the Internal Revenue Service to support taxpayer services and enforcement programs, including rent payments; facilities services; printing; postage; physical security; headquarters and other IRS-wide administration activities; research and statistics of income; telecommunications; information technology development, enhancement, operations, maintenance, and security; the hire of passenger motor vehicles (31 U.S.C. 1343(b)); the operations of the Internal Revenue Service Oversight Board; and other services as authorized by 5 U.S.C. 3109, at such rates as may be determined by the Commissioner; $3,638,446,000, of which not to exceed $50,000,000 shall remain available until September 30, 2017; of which not to exceed $10,000,000 shall remain available until expended for acquisition of equipment and construction, repair and renovation of facilities; of which not to exceed $1,000,000 shall remain available until September 30, 2018, for research; of which not to exceed $20,000 shall be for official reception and representation expenses: Provided, That not later than 30 days after the end of each quarter, the Internal Revenue Service shall submit a report to the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate and the Comptroller General of the United States detailing the cost and schedule performance for its major information technology investments, including the purpose and life-cycle stages of the investments; the reasons for any cost and schedule variances; the risks of such investments and strategies the Internal Revenue Service is using to mitigate such risks; and the expected developmental milestones to be achieved and costs to be incurred in the next quarter: Provided further, That the Internal Revenue Service shall include, in its budget justification for fiscal year 2017, a summary of cost and schedule performance information for its major information technology systems.
BUSINESS SYSTEMS MODERNIZATION
For necessary expenses of the Internal Revenue Service's business systems modernization program, $290,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 2018, for the capital asset acquisition of information technology systems, including management and related contractual costs of said acquisitions, including related Internal Revenue Service labor costs, and contractual costs associated with operations authorized by 5 U.S.C. 3109: Provided, That not later than 30 days after the end of each quarter, the Internal Revenue Service shall submit a report to the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate and the Comptroller General of the United States detailing the cost and schedule performance for CADE 2 and Modernized e-File information technology investments, including the purposes and life-cycle stages of the investments; the reasons for any cost and schedule variances; the risks of such investments and the strategies the Internal Revenue Service is using to mitigate such risks; and the expected developmental milestones to be achieved and costs to be incurred in the next quarter.
ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS -- INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE
(INCLUDING TRANSFER OF FUNDS)
SEC. 101. Not to exceed 5 percent of any appropriation made available in this Act to the Internal Revenue Service may be transferred to any other Internal Revenue Service appropriation upon the advance approval of the Committees on Appropriations.
SEC. 102. The Internal Revenue Service shall maintain an employee training program, which shall include the following topics: taxpayers' rights, dealing courteously with taxpayers, cross-cultural relations, ethics, and the impartial application of tax law.
SEC. 103. The Internal Revenue Service shall institute and enforce policies and procedures that will safeguard the confidentiality of taxpayer information and protect taxpayers against identity theft.
SEC. 104. Funds made available by this or any other Act to the Internal Revenue Service shall be available for improved facilities and increased staffing to provide sufficient and effective 1-800 help line service for taxpayers. The Commissioner shall continue to make improvements to the Internal Revenue Service 1-800 help line service a priority and allocate resources necessary to enhance the response time to taxpayer communications, particularly with regard to victims of tax-related crimes.
SEC. 105. None of the funds made available to the Internal Revenue Service by this Act may be used to make a video unless the Service-Wide Video Editorial Board determines in advance that making the video is appropriate, taking into account the cost, topic, tone, and purpose of the video.
SEC. 106. The Internal Revenue Service shall issue a notice of confirmation of any address change relating to an employer making employment tax payments, and such notice shall be sent to both the employer's former and new address and an officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service shall give special consideration to an offer-in-compromise from a taxpayer who has been the victim of fraud by a third party payroll tax preparer.
SEC. 107. None of the funds made available under this Act may be used by the Internal Revenue Service to target citizens of the United States for exercising any right guaranteed under the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
SEC. 108. None of the funds made available in this Act may be used by the Internal Revenue Service to target groups for regulatory scrutiny based on their ideological beliefs.
SEC. 109. None of funds made available by this Act to the Internal Revenue Service shall be obligated or expended on conferences that do not adhere to the procedures, verification processes, documentation requirements, and policies issued by the Chief Financial Officer, Human Capital Office, and Agency-Wide Shared Services as a result of the recommendations in the report published on May 31, 2013, by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration entitled "Review of the August 2010 Small Business/Self-Employed Division's Conference in Anaheim, California" (Reference Number 2013-10-037).
SEC. 110. None of the funds made available in this Act to the Internal Revenue Service may be obligated or expended --
(2) under any hiring or personnel selection process with respect to re-hiring a former employee,
SEC. 111. None of the funds made available by this Act may be used in contravention of section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to confidentiality and disclosure of returns and return information).
SEC. 112. Except to the extent provided in section 6014, 6020, or 6201(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, no funds in this or any other Act shall be available to the Secretary of the Treasury to provide to any person a proposed final return or statement for use by such person to satisfy a filing or reporting requirement under such Code.
SEC. 113. In addition to the amounts otherwise made available in this Act for the Internal Revenue Service, $290,000,000, to be available until September 30, 2017, shall be transferred by the Commissioner to the "Taxpayer Services", "Enforcement", or "Operations Support" accounts of the Internal Revenue Service for an additional amount to be used solely for measurable improvements in the customer service representative level of service rate, to improve the identification and prevention of refund fraud and identity theft, and to enhance cybersecurity to safeguard taxpayer data: Provided, That such funds shall supplement, not supplant any other amounts made available by the Internal Revenue Service for such purpose: Provided further, That such funds shall not be available until the Commissioner submits to the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate a spending plan for such funds: Provided further, That such funds shall not be used to support any provision of Public Law 111-148, Public Law 111-152, or any amendment made by either such Public Law.
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JOINT COMMITTEE ON TAXATION
For salaries and expenses of the Joint Committee on Taxation, $10,095,000, to be disbursed by the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives.
For other joint items, as follows:
OFFICE OF THE ATTENDING PHYSICIAN
For medical supplies, equipment, and contingent expenses of the emergency rooms, and for the Attending Physician and his assistants, including:
(2) an allowance of $1,300 per month to the Senior Medical Officer;
(3) an allowance of $725 per month each to three medical officers while on duty in the Office of the Attending Physician;
(4) an allowance of $725 per month to 2 assistants and $580 per month each not to exceed 11 assistants on the basis heretofore provided for such assistants; and
(5) $2,692,000 for reimbursement to the Department of the Navy for expenses incurred for staff and equipment assigned to the Office of the Attending Physician, which shall be advanced and credited to the applicable appropriation or appropriations from which such salaries, allowances, and other expenses are payable and shall be available for all the purposes thereof, $3,784,000, to be disbursed by the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives.
CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE
SALARIES AND EXPENSES
For salaries and expenses necessary for operation of the Congressional Budget Office, including not more than $6,000 to be expended on the certification of the Director of the Congressional Budget Office in connection with official representation and reception expenses, $46,500,000.
SEC. 1. TABLE OF CONTENTS.
The table of contents for this division is as follows:
Sec. 1. Table of contents.
Sec. 101. Delay of excise tax on high cost employer-sponsored health coverage.
Sec. 102. Deductibility of excise tax on high cost employer-sponsored health coverage.
Sec. 103. Study on suitable benchmarks for age and gender adjustment of excise tax on high cost employer-sponsored health coverage.
TITLE II -- ANNUAL FEE ON HEALTH INSURANCE PROVIDERS
Sec. 201. Moratorium on annual fee on health insurance providers.
Sec. 301. Extension and phaseout of credits for wind facilities.
Sec. 302. Extension of election to treat qualified facilities as energy property.
Sec. 303. Extension and phaseout of solar energy credit.
Sec. 304. Extension and phaseout of credits with respect to qualified solar electric property and qualified solar water heating property.
Sec. 305. Treatment of transportation costs of independent refiners.
SEC. 101. DELAY OF EXCISE TAX ON HIGH COST EMPLOYER-SPONSORED HEALTH COVERAGE.
(a) IN GENERAL. -- Sections 9001(c) and 10901(c) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by section 1401(b) of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, are each amended by striking "2017" and inserting "2019".
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT. -- Clause (v) of section (2) by striking "as so in effect" and inserting "as so determined".
Paragraph (10) of section "(10) DEDUCTIBILITY OF TAX. -- Section 275(a)(6) shall not apply to the tax imposed by subsection (a).".
Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States, in consultation with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, shall report to the Committee on Finance of the Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives on --
(2) recommendations regarding any more suitable benchmarks for such age and gender adjustment.
SEC. 201. MORATORIUM ON ANNUAL FEE ON HEALTH INSURANCE PROVIDERS.
Subsection (j) of section 9010 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is amended to read as follows:
"(j) EFFECTIVE DATE. -- This section shall apply to calendar years --
"(1) beginning after December 31, 2013, and ending before January 1, 2017, and
"(2) beginning after December 31, 2017.".
SEC. 301. EXTENSION AND PHASEOUT OF CREDITS FOR WIND FACILITIES.
(a) IN GENERAL. --
(1) EXTENSION. -- Paragraph (1) of section 45(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking "January 1, 2015" and inserting "January 1, 2020".
(2) PHASEOUT. -- Subsection (b) of section 45 of such Code is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
"(5) PHASEOUT OF CREDIT FOR WIND FACILITIES. -- In the case of any facility using wind to produce electricity, the amount of the credit determined under subsection (a) (determined after the application of paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) and without regard to this paragraph) shall be reduced by --
"(A) in the case of any facility the construction of which begins after December 31, 2016, and before January 1, 2018, 20 percent,
"(B) in the case of any facility the construction of which begins after December 31, 2017, and before January 1, 2019, 40 percent, and
"(C) in the case of any facility the construction of which begins after December 31, 2018, and before January 1, 2020, 60 percent.".
SEC. 302. EXTENSION OF ELECTION TO TREAT QUALIFIED FACILITIES AS ENERGY PROPERTY.
(a) IN GENERAL. -- Clause (ii) of section 48(a)(5)(C) is amended by inserting "(January 1, 2020, in the case of any facility which is described in paragraph (1) of section 45(d))" before ", and".
(b) PHASEOUT FOR WIND FACILITIES. -- Paragraph (5) of section 48(a) is amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
"(i) in the case of any facility the construction of which begins after December 31, 2016, and before January 1, 2018, 20 percent,
"(ii) in the case of any facility the construction of which begins after December 31, 2017, and before January 1, 2019, 40 percent, and
"(iii) in the case of any facility the construction of which begins after December 31, 2018, and before January 1, 2020, 60 percent.".
SEC. 303. EXTENSION AND PHASEOUT OF SOLAR ENERGY CREDIT.
(a) EXTENSION. -- Subclause (II) of section 48(a)(2)(A)(i) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking "periods ending before January 1, 2017" and inserting "property the construction of which begins before January 1, 2022".
(b) PHASEOUT FOR SOLAR ENERGY PROPERTY. -- Subsection (a) of section 48 of such Code is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
"(6) PHASEOUT FOR SOLAR ENERGY PROPERTY. --
"(A) IN GENERAL. -- Subject to subparagraph (B), in the case of any energy property described in paragraph (3)(A)(i) the construction of which begins before January 1, 2022, the energy percentage determined under paragraph (2) shall be equal to --
"(i) in the case of any property the construction of which begins after December 31, 2019, and before January 1, 2021, 26 percent, and
"(ii) in the case of any property the construction of which begins after December 31, 2020, and before January 1, 2022, 22 percent.
"(B) PLACED IN SERVICE DEADLINE. -- In the case of any property energy property described in paragraph (3)(A)(i) the construction of which begins before January 1, 2022, and which is not placed in service before January 1, 2024, the energy percentage determined under paragraph (2) shall be equal to 10 percent.".
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE. -- The amendments made by this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 304. EXTENSION AND PHASEOUT OF CREDITS WITH RESPECT TO QUALIFIED SOLAR ELECTRIC PROPERTY AND QUALIFIED SOLAR WATER HEATING PROPERTY.
(a) IN GENERAL. -- Section 25D of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended --
(1) in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a), by striking "30 percent" each place it appears and inserting "the applicable percentage",
(2) in subsection (g), by inserting "(December 31, 2021, in the case of any qualified solar electric property expenditures and qualified solar water heating property expenditures)" before the period at the end,
(3) by redesignating subsection (g), as amended by paragraph (2), as subsection (h), and
(4) by inserting after subsection (f) the following new subsection:
"(g) APPLICABLE PERCENTAGE. -- For purposes of paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a), the applicable percentage shall be --
"(1) in the case of property placed in service after December 31, 2016, and before January 1, 2020, 30 percent,
"(2) in the case of property placed in service after December 31, 2019, and before January 1, 2021, 26 percent, and
"(3) in the case of property placed in service after December 31, 2020, and before January 1, 2022, 22 percent.".
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE. -- The amendments made by this section shall take effect on January 1, 2017.
SEC. 305. TREATMENT OF TRANSPORTATION COSTS OF INDEPENDENT REFINERS.
(a) IN GENERAL. -- Paragraph (3) of section "(C) TRANSPORTATION COSTS OF INDEPENDENT REFINERS. --
"(i) IN GENERAL. -- In the case of any taxpayer who is in the trade or business of refining crude oil and who is not a major integrated oil company (as defined in section 167(h)(5)(B), determined without regard to clause (iii) thereof) for the taxable year, in computing oil related qualified production activities income under subsection (d)(9)(B), the amount allocated to domestic production gross receipts under paragraph (1)(B) for costs related to the transportation of oil shall be 25 percent of the amount properly allocable under such paragraph (determined without regard to this subparagraph).
"(ii) TERMINATION. -- Clause (i) shall not apply to any taxable year beginning after December 31, 2021.".
