GOP Chairman Teams with Wasserman Schultz on Bill

The rain-slicked streets around D.C. today are evidence that hell hasn’t quite frozen over, but an unlikely team marked tax day with co-sponsorship of a bill intended to fight tax-return identity theft.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, introduced the Stopping Tax Offenders and Prosecuting Identity Theft Act yesterday.

According to the Internal Revenue Service, last year more than 850,000 tax returns and $5.8 billion were associated with fraudulent tax refunds involving identity theft. The bill increases penalties for tax return identity theft victims and expands the definition of a victim of identity theft to include businesses and charitable organizations.

“Texans are especially vulnerable to these ID theft schemes,” Smith said. “Texas ranks fifth in the nation for identity theft complaints.”

Wasserman Schultz said she had seen “countless” cases in her south Florida district.

“Chairman Smith and I have introduced legislation that protects Americans and their tax dollars, while discouraging would-be thieves from perpetuating this crime,” she said.