On Monday, Congressman Patrick McHenry (R, NC-10), the Republican Leader of the House Financial Services Committee, introduced H.R. 2007, the IRS Data Verification Modernization Act of 2019.

This bipartisan bill will require the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to automate the Income Verification Express Services process by creating an Application Programming Interface (API). This will allow small businesses and consumers to access accurate credit assessments more efficiently. Joining McHenry as an original cosponsor of H.R. 2007 is Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D, OR-03), a senior member of the House Committee on Ways and Means.

"We need better technology in government and more innovation," said McHenry. "This bipartisan bill is a good step in that direction. It will help bring the IRS in to the 21st century ultimately allowing the agency to better serve the American people."

Background: As part of the loan and mortgage processes for consumers and small businesses, each applicant completes an IRS form called a “4506-T.” This gives the lender the right to access a summarized version of their tax transcript, which is used to confirm certain data points on their application.  According to industry reports, this manual process at the IRS takes two to eight days, which creates needless delays for fintech companies and banks that rely on leveraging data and technology to make faster, more informed decisions for consumer and small business lending.