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H.R. 6956

U.S. House•In Senate Committee

Summary

H.R. 6956, the BARCODE Efficiency Act, was introduced in the House on Jan 7, 2026 by Rep. Bradley Schneider (D) with 1 co-sponsor. It was referred to Finance, and last saw action on Apr 28, 2026: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

Record

Text

H.R. 6956 has 1 co-sponsor.

hb6956/engrossed-in-house.txt
119 HR 6956 EH: Barcode Automation for Revenue Collection to Organize Disbursement and Enhance Efficiency Act
 U.S. House of Representatives
 text/xml
 EN
 Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
 I
 119th CONGRESS   2d Session
 H. R. 6956
 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 AN ACT
To require electronically prepared tax returns to include scannable code when submitted on paper, and to require the use of optical character recognition technology for paper documents received by the Internal Revenue Service.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Barcode Automation for Revenue Collection to Organize Disbursement and Enhance Efficiency Act   or the   BARCODE Efficiency Act  .
2.
Scanning and digitization of tax returns and correspondence
(a)
Returns prepared electronically and submitted on paper
With respect to any Federal tax return which is prepared electronically, but is printed and filed on paper—
(1)
such return shall be formatted in a manner that is compatible with the scanning technology referred to in paragraph (2), and
(2)
subject to subsection (b)(1)(B), the Internal Revenue Service shall use scanning technology to convert the data included in such return to electronic format.
(b)
Optical character recognition software
With respect to—
(1)
any Federal tax return which—
(A)
is not prepared electronically and is printed and filed on paper, or
(B)
is described in subsection (a)(1) but, for any reason, the data included in such return cannot be accurately converted into electronic format, or
(2)
any correspondence which is received by the Internal Revenue Service in a paper form (with the exception of any such correspondence which has been received by the Internal Revenue Service in electronic format),
 the Internal Revenue Service shall use optical character recognition technology (or any functionally similar technology) to transcribe such return or correspondence.
(c)
Exception
(1)
In general
Subsection (a) or (b) shall not apply to the extent that the Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretary’s delegate determines that the technology described in such subsection is slower or less reliable than—
(A)
the process of manually transcribing returns or correspondence received in a paper form, or
(B)
any other process that the Internal Revenue Service is using or would otherwise use.
(2)
Report to congress
Any exception to the application of subsection (a) or (b) pursuant to paragraph (1) shall not take effect unless the Secretary provides a report to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate regarding the determination made under such paragraph within 30 days of such determination.
(d)
Effective date
This section shall apply to—
(1)
any individual income tax return (as defined in  section 6011(e)(3)(C)  of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) received on or after January 1 of the first calendar year beginning more than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act,
(2)
any estate tax return (as described in section 6018 of such Code) or gift tax return (as described in section 6019 of such Code) received on or after January 1 of the first calendar year beginning more than 24 months after the date of enactment of this Act, and
(3)
any other return or correspondence received on or after January 1 of the first calendar year beginning more than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act.
      Passed the House of Representatives April 27, 2026.  Kevin F. McCumber,  Clerk.

Tracker

The tracker indicates the progress of this legislation as it moves through the legislative process.

  1. Introduced2026-01-07
  2. Passed House2026-04-27
  3. Passed Senate
  4. Conference
  5. To President
  6. Became Law

CRS Summary

The summaries are the Congressional Research Service’s, one per stage. Read them in full.

Introduced in House Jan 7, 2026

hb6956/introduced-in-house.md

Shown Here:
Introduced in House (01/07/2026)

Barcode Automation for Revenue Collection to Organize Disbursement and Enhance Efficiency Act or the BARCODE Efficiency Act

This bill requires the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to use barcodes, barcode scanning technology, and optical character recognition (or similar) technology to digitize certain federal tax return information and correspondence, unless the technology is slower or less reliable than other IRS processes (subject to conditions).

Specifically, the bill requires a scannable barcode on electronically-prepared federal tax returns that are printed and filed in paper format with the IRS. The bill also requires the IRS to use barcode scanning technology to convert data included on such returns into an electronic format.

Further, the bill requires the IRS to use optical character recognition (or similar) technology to transcribe federal tax returns and correspondence received by the IRS that are not prepared electronically and are received in paper format.

However, under the bill, the use of barcodes, barcode scanning technology, and optical character recognition (or similar) technology is not required if (1) such technology is slower or less reliable than manual transcription or any other IRS process, and (2) the IRS provides a report to Congress regarding the determination to not use such technology.

Sponsors

Rep. Bradley Schneider (D) sponsors H.R. 6956, and 1 member has co-sponsored it from the day it was introduced.

Committees

H.R. 6956 went before 2 committees: Finance and Ways and Means.

Finance
Finance
Referred To · Apr 28, 2026 · 902 Bills
Ways and Means
Ways and Means
Reported By · Feb 20, 2026 · 1,160 Bills

Reports

1 committee report has been filed on H.R. 6956, the latest H. Rept. 119-508.

  • H. Rept. 119-508 — BARCODE AUTOMATION FOR REVENUE COLLECTION TO ORGANIZE DISBURSEMENT AND ENHANCE EFFICIENCY ACT

Actions

H.R. 6956 has taken 13 actions since Jan 7, 2026, the latest on Apr 28, 2026.

ChamberAction
Apr 28, 2026
Senate
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.Finance Committee
Apr 27, 202615:09
House
Mr. Smith (MO) moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
Apr 27, 202615:09
House
Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H3100-3101)
Apr 27, 202615:09
House
DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 6956.
Apr 27, 202615:22
House
On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H3100)

Votes

H.R. 6956 has not gone to a roll call.

1 bill is related to H.R. 6956, as Identical bill.

Titles

H.R. 6956 goes by 11 titles, 8 of them short titles.

  • BARCODE Efficiency Act — Display Title
  • BARCODE Efficiency Act — Short Titles from RFS (Referred to Senate) bill text
  • To require electronically prepared tax returns to include scannable code when submitted on paper, and to require the use of optical character recognition technology for paper documents received by the Internal Revenue Service. — Official Title as Introduced
  • Barcode Automation for Revenue Collection to Organize Disbursement and Enhance Efficiency Act — Short Titles from RFS (Referred to Senate) bill text
  • Barcode Automation for Revenue Collection to Organize Disbursement and Enhance Efficiency Act — Short Title(s) as Passed House
  • To require electronically prepared tax returns to include scannable code when submitted on paper, and to require the use of optical character recognition technology for paper documents received by the Internal Revenue Service. — Official Titles from EH (Engrossed in House) bill text
  • BARCODE Efficiency Act — Short Title(s) as Passed House
  • BARCODE Efficiency Act — Short Title(s) as Reported to House
  • Barcode Automation for Revenue Collection to Organize Disbursement and Enhance Efficiency Act — Short Title(s) as Reported to House
  • Barcode Automation for Revenue Collection to Organize Disbursement and Enhance Efficiency Act — Short Title(s) as Introduced
  • BARCODE Efficiency Act — Short Title(s) as Introduced

Cost estimate

The Congressional Budget Office has filed 1 estimate for H.R. 6956, the latest on Apr 21, 2026.

Lobbying

2 clients hired 2 firms and 96 registered lobbyists who named H.R. 6956 in 4 quarterly filings, 2026. Reported under the Lobbying Disclosure Act; a filing’s income covers everything its registrant worked that quarter, so the amounts below are the filings’, not this bill’s.

Filed under Banking, Financial Institutions/Investments/Securities, Health Issues, Taxation/Internal Revenue Code, Telecommunications, Labor Issues/Antitrust/Workplace, Transportation, Aerospace.

Clients

Who paid to be heard, by how many filings named the bill.

ClientBusinessStateFirmsFilingsReported
AMERICANS FOR TAX REFORM—District of Columbia12—
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE U.S.A.—District of Columbia12—

Firms

Registrants who filed on the bill, by filings.

RegistrantClientsFilingsReported
AMERICANS FOR TAX REFORM12—
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE U.S.A.12—

Lobbyists

Named on the filings that cite the bill. The 20 named most often, of 96.

LobbyistFirmsClientsFilings
ABELARDO TORRES112
ALEXA BRANSON112
AMANDA MAYS112
ANDREA PORWOLL112
ASHLEY GUM112
BENJAMIN KRON112
BRADLEY WATTS112
BRINCE MANNING112
BROOKE MILLER112
CASSIA CARVALHO112
CHAD WHITEMAN112
CHANTEL SHEAKS112
CHRISTOPHER BUTLER112
CHRISTOPHER CRENSHAW112
CHRISTOPHER EYLER112
CHRISTOPHER GUITH112
CHRISTOPHER ROBERTI112
CLARK JACKSON112
DAN BYERS112
DAVID SMENTEK112

Filings

The documents themselves, on the Senate’s Lobbying Disclosure site, largest reported first.

ClientRegistrantPeriodReportedDocument
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE U.S.A.CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE U.S.A.2026 first_quarter$19.8M1st Quarter - Amendme…
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE U.S.A.CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE U.S.A.2026 first_quarter$19.8M1st Quarter - Report
AMERICANS FOR TAX REFORMAMERICANS FOR TAX REFORM2026 second_quarter$70K2nd Quarter - Report
AMERICANS FOR TAX REFORMAMERICANS FOR TAX REFORM2026 first_quarter$70K1st Quarter - Report

Classification

The Congressional Research Service files H.R. 6956 under Taxation, one of its 31 policy areas, and gives it 4 legislative subjects.

CRS Subjects

CRS assigns every bill one policy area from its 31; H.R. 6956’s is Taxation.

hr6956/policy-areas.txt
TaxationAgriculture and FoodAnimalsArmed Forces and National SecurityArts, Culture, ReligionCivil Rights and Liberties, Minority IssuesCommerceCongressCrime and Law EnforcementEconomics and Public FinanceEducationEmergency ManagementEnergyEnvironmental ProtectionFamiliesFinance and Financial SectorForeign Trade and International FinanceGovernment Operations and PoliticsHealthHousing and Community DevelopmentImmigrationInternational AffairsLabor and EmploymentLawNative AmericansPublic Lands and Natural ResourcesScience, Technology, CommunicationsSocial WelfareSports and RecreationTransportation and Public WorksWater Resources Development

Legislative Subjects

H.R. 6956 carries 4 of CRS’s legislative subjects, from Computers and information technology to Tax administration and collection, taxpayers.

hr6956/subjects.txt
Computers and information technologyDigital mediaGovernment information and archivesTax administration and collection, taxpayers

Constitutional authority

The clause the sponsor cites as Congress’s power to enact H.R. 6956, as entered in the Congressional Record.

[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 4 (Wednesday, January 7, 2026)][House]From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]By Mr. SCHNEIDER:H.R. 6956.Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuantto the following:Article I, Section 8[Page H135]

Source: congress.gov · legiscan.com