[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2827 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2827

 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to require that a taxpayer 
  may request a receipt for an income tax payment which itemizes the 
    portion of the payment which is allocable to various Government 
                          spending categories.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 5, 1997

 Mr. Schumer introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to require that a taxpayer 
  may request a receipt for an income tax payment which itemizes the 
    portion of the payment which is allocable to various Government 
                          spending categories.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Taxpayer Right-To-Know Act of 
1997''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Individual incomes taxes amount to one of the greatest 
        annual expenses for many Americans.
            (2) There is a great deal of uncertainty on the part of 
        taxpayers concerning where and how their income tax dollars are 
        spent.
            (3) Taxpayers do not receive any acknowledgment of payment 
        from the Internal Revenue Service nor any explanation itemizing 
        how their tax payments are spent.
            (4) There presently exists no straightforward way for a 
        taxpayer to determine exactly how much he or she paid for 
        specific governmental activities.
            (5) The failure to provide taxpayers with an itemized 
        listing showing how their tax dollars are spent contributes to 
        a lack of knowledge about the Government and subsequently to a 
        less informed electorate.
            (6) The Internal Revenue Service must update its technology 
        and treat taxpayer information as a strategic asset to improve 
        customer service.
            (7) Taxpayer education by the Internal Revenue Service 
        aimed at showing taxpayers how their tax dollars are spent 
        leads to increased compliance.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are as follows:
            (1) To educate individual income tax filers about how much 
        they contribute annually, in actual dollars and cents, to 
        various governmental programs, projects, and activities.
            (2) To improve the public's understanding of the Federal 
        Government.
            (3) To enhance the public's level of satisfaction with the 
        Internal Revenue Service.

SEC. 3. ITEMIZED INCOME TAX RECEIPT.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 77 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
(relating to miscellaneous provisions) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new section:

``SEC. 7525. TAXPAYER REQUEST FOR INCOME TAX RECEIPT.

    ``(a) In General.--At the request of any taxpayer who files an 
individual income tax return, the Secretary shall send to such taxpayer 
an itemized receipt showing a proportionate allocation (in money terms) 
of the taxpayer's total tax payments among the major expenditure 
categories.
    ``(b) Total Tax Payments.--For purposes of subsection (a), total 
tax payments of an individual for any taxable year are--
            ``(1) the tax imposed by subtitle A for such taxable year 
        (as shown on his return), and
            ``(2) the tax imposed by section 3101 on wages received 
        during such taxable year.
    ``(c) Content of Tax Receipt.--
            ``(1) Major expenditure categories.--For purposes of 
        subsection (a), the major expenditure categories are:
                    ``(A) National defense.
                    ``(B) International affairs.
                    ``(C) Medicaid.
                    ``(D) Medicare.
                    ``(E) Means-tested entitlements.
                    ``(F) Domestic discretionary.
                    ``(G) Social Security.
                    ``(H) Interest payments.
                    ``(I) All other.
            ``(2) Other items on receipt.--In addition, the tax receipt 
        shall include selected examples of more specific expenditure 
        items, either at the budget function, subfunction, or program, 
        project, or activity levels, along with any other information 
        deemed appropriate by the Secretary and the Director of the 
        Office of Management and Budget to enhance taxpayer 
        understanding of the Federal budget.
    ``(d) Manner and Time of Request.--A request for a tax receipt as 
described in subsection (c) shall be made with respect to any taxable 
year at the time of filing the return imposed by chapter 1 for such 
taxable year. A receipt shall be made available to a requesting 
taxpayer as soon as practicable upon the processing of that taxpayer's 
Federal income tax return by the Internal Revenue Service.
    ``(e) Use of New Technologies.--The Internal Revenue Service is 
encouraged to utilize modern technologies such as electronic mail and 
the Internet to minimize the cost of sending receipts to taxpayers. The 
Internal Revenue Service shall establish an interactive program on its 
Internet website to allow taxpayers to generate income tax receipts on 
their own.
    ``(f) Cost.--No charge shall be imposed to cover any cost 
associated with the production or distribution of the tax receipt.
    ``(g) Regulations.--The Secretary may prescribe such regulations as 
may be necessary to carry out this section.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 77 of 
such Code is amended by adding at the end the following new item:

                              ``Sec. 7525. Taxpayer request for income 
                                        tax receipt.''
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 1997.
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