3.0.0 2252 2023-01-11T13:32:35Z 2023-01-11T13:32:35Z Senate S 2015-11-05 114 ssfi00 Finance Committee Senate Standing Referred to 2015-11-05T21:40:33Z 2015-11-05 ssfi00 Finance Committee Senate Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. IntroReferral 2015-11-05 Introduced in Senate IntroReferral 10000 9 Library of Congress B000944 Sen. Brown, Sherrod [D-OH] Sherrod Brown D OH N D000563 Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL] Richard Durbin D IL J. 2015-11-05 True C000141 Sen. Cardin, Benjamin L. [D-MD] Ben Cardin D MD 2015-11-05 True C001070 Sen. Casey, Robert P., Jr. [D-PA] Bob Casey D PA 2015-11-05 True F000457 Sen. Franken, Al [D-MN] Al Franken D MN 2015-11-05 True S000033 Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT] Bernard Sanders I VT 2015-11-05 True M001176 Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR] Jeff Merkley D OR 2015-11-16 False B000711 Sen. Boxer, Barbara [D-CA] BARBARA BOXER D CA 2015-11-16 False Taxation Administrative law and regulatory procedures Census and government statistics Contracts and agency Department of the Treasury Employment taxes Tax administration and collection, taxpayers Taxation 00 2015-11-05 Introduced in Senate 2015-12-22T22:12:25Z Fair Playing Field Act of 2015

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the classification of workers for employment tax purposes, to:

  • repeal the prohibition against issuance of regulations and guidance by the Department of the Treasury on workers' employment tax status (i.e., as an employee or as an independent contractor) enacted by the Revenue Act of 1978;
  • direct Treasury to issue regulations and other guidance to clarify the proper employment status of workers for employment tax purposes;
  • prohibit a retroactive assessment of employment tax, except with respect to certain skilled workers, for tax periods after December 31, 1978, and before a specified reclassification date for worker misclassifications, unless the taxpayer had no reasonable basis for not treating a worker as an employee;
  • exempt certain individuals who perform professional services from treatment as employees for employment tax purposes;
  • require taxpayers who hire independent contractors on a regular and ongoing basis to provide such contractors with notice of their federal tax obligations, the labor and employment law protections that do not apply to them, and their right to seek a status determination from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS); and
  • eliminate reduced penalty provisions for failure to withhold income taxes for taxpayers who lack a reasonable basis for treating a worker as other than an employee (i.e., as an independent contractor).

The IRS Commissioner must issue reports each fiscal year providing information and data on worker classification as an employee or an independent contractor.

]]> Fair Playing Field Act of 2015 Display Title Fair Playing Field Act of 2015 Official Title as Introduced A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permit the Secretary of the Treasury to issue prospective guidance clarifying the employment status of individuals for purposes of employment taxes and to prevent retroactive assessments with respect to such clarifications. Introduced in Senate IS Short Titles as Introduced Fair Playing Field Act of 2015 Introduced in Senate 2015-11-05T05:00:00Z https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-114s2252is/xml/BILLS-114s2252is.xml 2015-11-05 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. 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. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress This file contains bill summaries and statuses for federal legislation. A bill summary describes the most significant provisions of a piece of legislation and details the effects the legislative text may have on current law and federal programs. Bill summaries are authored by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. As stated in Public Law 91-510 (2 USC 166 (d)(6)), one of the duties of CRS is "to prepare summaries and digests of bills and resolutions of a public general nature introduced in the Senate or House of Representatives". For more information, refer to the User Guide that accompanies this file.