S. 1074Senate115th Congress (2017-2019)In Committee

Electronic Signature Standards Act of 2017

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Updated April 15, 2026 at 3:19 PM UTC

The Electronic Signature Standards Act of 2017 changes the tax code so the Treasury Secretary must issue rules that set consistent standards for using electronic signatures when a taxpayer authorizes a third party to get their tax information or to act as their power of attorney. The rules apply to tax practitioners who are regulated under the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

Key Provisions

The Secretary of the Treasury must publish guidance, within six months of the law’s enactment, that defines how electronic or digital signatures can be accepted for third‑party disclosure authorizations.
The guidance covers two situations: (i) requests to disclose a taxpayer’s return or return information, and (ii) powers of attorney signed by the taxpayer.
For these purposes, a “practitioner” is defined as any individual in good standing who is regulated under 31 U.S.C. § 330 (e.g., enrolled agents, CPAs, attorneys).

Legislative Activity

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1 earlier action

SenateIntro Referral Latest Action

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

Finance Committee

May 9, 2017

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SenateIntro Referral

Introduced in Senate

May 9, 2017

SenateIntro Referral

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

Finance Committee

May 9, 2017

Bill Text

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Introduced in SenateIssued May 9, 2017

115th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 1074

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

May 9, 2017

Mr. Portman (for himself and Mr. Bennet) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

A BILL

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide uniform standards for the use of electronic signatures for third-party disclosure authorizations.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Electronic Signature Standards Act of 2017.

Uniform standards for the use of electronic signatures for third-party disclosure authorizations

Paragraph (3) of section 6061(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows:

(3)

Published guidance

(A)

In general

The Secretary shall publish guidance as appropriate to define and implement any waiver of the signature requirements or any method adopted under paragraph (1).

(B)

Electronic signatures for third-party disclosure authorizations

Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this subparagraph, the Secretary shall publish guidance to establish uniform standards and procedures for the acceptance of practitioner signatures of digital or other electronic form for purposes of—

(i)

any request for disclosure of a taxpayer's return or return information under section 6103(c), and

(ii)

any power of attorney executed by the taxpayer.

(C)

Practitioner

For purposes of subparagraph (B), the term practitioner means any individual in good standing who is regulated under section 330 of title 31, United States Code.