Secure EFIN Pilot With Due Process and Sunset

Congress has the power to run this pilot, and the Constitution sets its limits. Article I, Section 8, Clause 1 grants power to collect lawful revenue, and Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 permits measures necessary and proper to carry that power into effect, with the Sixteenth Amendment confirming the power to collect income taxes; that is why a narrow check that a preparer number is authorized and active is permitted. Fifth Amendment Due Process limits the same power: no preparer may finally lose filing access without notice and a fair chance to respond. The strongest objection is that real-time checks could delay honest filings and expand agency discretion, and the answer is a capped pilot with clear standards, prompt correction, review, and a sunset. The official summary states the bill was ordered to be reported in the nature of a substitute by 40-0 on September 16, 2026. It remains a pending bill, not law. The VFA proposal would build on that pending bill with a five-year pilot for real-time EFIN checks. The IRS would confirm that a number is authorized and active before accepting an electronically filed return from a preparer. Software providers and state partners could run the check under IRS standards. Ordinary taxpayers filing their own returns would not face a new step. The VFA proposal adds firm safeguards that the official summary does not state. A blocked preparer would receive prompt written notice with the reason. The preparer could correct errors quickly and continue lawful work during review. No final loss of filing access would occur without notice and a fair chance to respond, consistent with due process. These appeal rights would be new safeguards proposed by VFA. Costs and privacy would stay controlled. Spending would be capped from current IRS funds. The system would check only the status needed to confirm authorization. Filing data would not be shared for unrelated uses. The check could reduce abuse using stolen or inactive numbers, but results are uncertain and would be measured by the watchdog. An independent watchdog would report each year on accuracy, delays, costs, and fraud prevented, and Congress would decide whether to continue the program at sunset.