# 119-hr-6956: BARCODE Efficiency Act

119-hr-6956, BARCODE Efficiency Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Schneider, Bradley Scott [D-IL-10] (D-IL); status passed_house; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-09-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-6956
- As of: 2026-09-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-6956
- Congress: 119
- Title: BARCODE Efficiency Act
- Status: passed_house
- Introduced: 2026-01-07
- Sponsor: Rep. Schneider, Bradley Scott [D-IL-10] (D-IL)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Policy area: Taxation
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-09-21

## Summary

**Digitize paper tax documents using scanning and optical character recognition (OCR).** The bill would require printed electronic returns and other paper tax submissions to be converted into electronic files using scanning and OCR, with phased start dates by return type. - Taxpayers who prepare returns electronically but print and mail them must format those printouts for scanning, and the IRS would convert them into electronic records. This applies to individual income tax returns received on or after Jan 1 of the first calendar year beginning more than 180 days after enactment. - People who file fully on paper or send paper correspondence would have returns and most form letters transcribed by OCR or similar technology instead of manual entry. - Estate and gift tax filers face a later phase in. The rule applies to those returns received on or after Jan 1 of the first calendar year beginning more than 24 months after enactment. - The IRS must use scanning and OCR for conversions but the Treasury Secretary can grant an exception if the technology is slower or less reliable than manual methods. Any exception requires a report to the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee within 30 days.

## Cosponsors (1)

- Rep. Yakym, Rudy [R-IN-2] (R-IN), 2026-01-07T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- New IRS scanning rules for paper filers: mixed, low. The IRS would scan paper tax returns and paper letters into electronic files, using optical character recognition (OCR) when needed. If you prepare your return electronically but print and mail it, you would need to use a scannable format. Individual income tax returns would follow this rule for re…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-6900: American Affordability Act of 2025
- 119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act
- 119-hr-2725: Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2025
- 119-hr-1229: United States-Israel Defense Partnership Act of 2025
- 119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act
- 119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-hr-6956 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/6956)

## Related
- [119-hr-6900: American Affordability Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-6900)
- [119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7977)
- [119-hr-2725: Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2725)
- [119-hr-1229: United States-Israel Defense Partnership Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1229)
- [119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7973)
- [119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4669)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-6956 (as of 2026-09-21).