Cornyn introduces 'taxpayer bill of rights' for small business

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) on Wednesday introduced new legislation aimed at making it easier for small companies to navigate the IRS.

Cornyn's Small Business Taxpayer Bill of Rights comes just a week before House Republicans are expected to move legislation that would give small companies a 20 percent tax cut, and shows Republicans are eager to use Tax Day, traditionally April 15, as a reminder that they support efforts to ease the tax burden.

"With Tax Day fast approaching, Americans are being reminded of just how complex, illogical, and inefficient our federal tax system really is," Cornyn said. "Small business owners face an especially crushing burden of paperwork, but they lack the key financial and legal resources that multinational corporations do.

"Now more than ever, with an economy struggling to recover and increased tax burdens from the 2010 health care law around the corner, we need to ensure our small businesses are spending more time creating jobs and opportunity and less time dealing with the IRS and an archaic tax code."

Among other things, Cornyn's bill would create a new path for small businesses to contest IRS audits, limit IRS authority during appeals, make it easier to win attorney's fees if the IRS is found to have abused tax law, and give companies access to judicial review if the IRS fails to act on a request to refund certain interest payments.

Earlier Wednesday, a Democratic senator, Sherrod Brown (Ohio), said he will support a bill increasing penalties for people involved in tax fraud.

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