Skip to main content
H.R. 6956 119th Congress House

BARCODE Efficiency Act

Official title: To require electronically prepared tax returns to include scannable code when submitted on paper, and to require the use of optical character recognition techn… Show full official titleShow less

Official title: 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.

Introduced: January 7, 2026 Introduced by: Bradley Scott Schneider Democratic · Illinois See on congress.gov
Taxation Computers and information technologyDigital mediaGovernment information and archivesTax administration and collection, taxpayers
Sign in to write a letter Sign in to watch
 Everywhere this bill has been 13 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Apr 28, 2026
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Apr 27, 2026 · 3:22 PM EDT
Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H3100)
Apr 27, 2026 · 3:09 PM EDT
DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 6956.
Apr 27, 2026 · 3:09 PM EDT
Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H3100-3101)
Apr 27, 2026 · 3:09 PM EDT
Mr. Smith (MO) moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
Apr 27, 2026 · 3:22 PM EDT
Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
Apr 27, 2026 · 3:22 PM EDT
On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H3100)
Feb 20, 2026
Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Ways and Means. H. Rept. 119-508.
Feb 20, 2026
Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 434.
Jan 14, 2026
Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute by the Yeas and Nays: 42 - 0.
Jan 14, 2026
Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
Jan 7, 2026
Introduced in House
Jan 7, 2026
Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
 Ask about this bill AI · grounded in the bill text

Have a question about what this bill does? Ask in plain English; the answer is drawn from the bill's actual text and official record, and it'll tell you when something isn't in the text rather than guess.

AI answers can be imperfect; always confirm against the full bill text.

What's happening now April 28, 2026

Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

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.

 Related & companion bills 1
  • S 452 Identical bill BARCODE Efficiency Act
 Bill text 4 versions

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 2
 Lobbying activity 5

Registered lobbyists who named this bill in their disclosure filings. Source: federal Lobbying Disclosure Act filings.

Bodies those filers lobbied

A filing lists the bills it worked on and the parts of government it contacted in separate sections, so these are the bodies those filers named anywhere in the filing, not a per-bill breakdown.

 Cosponsors 1
All 1 Republican 1
R
Yakym, Rudy
Indiana · Jan 7, 2026
Cite this page click to expand
APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). H.R. 6956: BARCODE Efficiency Act. 119th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HR-6956/
MLA
"H.R. 6956: BARCODE Efficiency Act." 119th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HR-6956/.
Bluebook (legal)
H.R. 6956, 119th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HR-6956/.
Markdown link
[H.R. 6956: BARCODE Efficiency Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HR-6956/)
Report a problem