[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3059 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3059

 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to eliminate the marriage 
penalty, to establish a commission to simplify the tax code, to require 
the Internal Revenue Service to use alternative dispute resolution, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 13, 1997

Ms. Jackson-Lee (for herself, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Mrs. 
   Meek of Florida, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Mr. Hinojosa, Mr. Romero-
  Barcelo, Mr. Reyes, Mr. Sandlin, Mr. Lampson, Mr. Cummings, and Ms. 
 Kilpatrick) 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 eliminate the marriage 
penalty, to establish a commission to simplify the tax code, to require 
the Internal Revenue Service to use alternative dispute resolution, and 
                          for other purposes.

    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 Justice Act of 1997''.

SEC. 2. COMBINED RETURN TO WHICH UNMARRIED RATES APPLY.

    (a) In General.--Subpart B of part II of subchapter A of chapter 61 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to income tax returns) 
is amended by inserting after section 6013 the following new section:

``SEC. 6013A. COMBINED RETURN WITH SEPARATE RATES.

    ``(a) General Rule.--A husband and wife may make a combined return 
of income taxes under subtitle A under which--
            ``(1) a separate taxable income is determined for each 
        spouse by applying the rules provided in this section, and
            ``(2) the tax imposed by section 1 is the aggregate amount 
        resulting from applying the separate rates set forth in section 
        1(c) to each such taxable income.
    ``(b) Treatment of Income.--For purposes of this section--
            ``(1) earned income (within the meaning of section 911(d)), 
        and any income received as a pension or annuity which arises 
        from an employer-employee relationship, shall be treated as the 
        income of the spouse who rendered the services, and
            ``(2) income from property shall be divided between the 
        spouses in accordance with their respective ownership rights in 
        such property.
    ``(c) Treatment of Deductions.--For purposes of this section--
            ``(1) except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the 
        deductions allowed by section 62(a) shall be allowed to the 
        spouse treated as having the income to which such deductions 
        relate,
            ``(2) the deduction for retirement savings described in 
        paragraph (7) of section 62(a) shall be allowed to the spouse 
        for whose benefit the savings are maintained,
            ``(3) the deduction for alimony described in paragraph (10) 
        of section 62(a) shall be allowed to the spouse who has the 
        liability to pay the alimony,
            ``(4) the deduction referred to in paragraph (16) of 
        section 62(a) (relating to contributions to medical savings 
        accounts) shall be allowed to the spouse with respect to whose 
        employment or self-employment such account relates,
            ``(5) the deductions allowable by section 151 (relating to 
        personal exemptions) shall be determined by requiring each 
        spouse to claim 1 personal exemption and by allocating the 
        personal exemptions under section 151(c) (relating to 
        dependents) as provided in paragraph (7) or in such other 
        manner as the spouses agree,
            ``(6) section 63 shall be applied as if such spouses were 
        not married, and
            ``(7) each spouse's share of all other deductions shall be 
        determined by multiplying the aggregate amount thereof by the 
        fraction--
                    ``(A) the numerator of which is such spouse's 
                adjusted gross income, and
                    ``(B) the denominator of which is the combined 
                adjusted gross incomes of the 2 spouses.
Any fraction determined under paragraph (7) shall be rounded to the 
nearest percentage point.
    ``(d) Treatment of Credits.--Credits shall be determined (and 
applied against the joint liability of the couple for tax) as if the 
spouses had filed a joint return.
    ``(e) Treatment as Joint Return.--Except as otherwise provided in 
this section or in the regulations prescribed hereunder, for purposes 
of this title (other than sections 1 and 63(c)) a combined return under 
this section shall be treated as a joint return.
    ``(f) Regulations.--The Secretary shall prescribe such regulations 
as may be necessary or appropriate to carry out this section.''.
    (b) Unmarried Rate Made Applicable.--So much of subsection (c) of 
section 1 of such Code as precedes the table is amended to read as 
follows:
    ``(c) Separate or Unmarried Return Rate.--There is hereby imposed 
on the taxable income of every individual (other than a married 
individual (as defined in section 7703) filing a joint return or a 
separate return, a surviving spouse as defined in section 2(a), or a 
head of household as defined in section 2(b)) a tax determined in 
accordance with the following table:''.
    (c) Basic Standard Deduction for Unmarried Individuals Made 
Applicable.--Subparagraph (C) of section 63(c)(2) of such Code is 
amended by striking all that follows the dollar amount and inserting 
``in the case of an individual who is not--
                            ``(i) a married individual filing a joint 
                        return or a separate return,
                            ``(ii) a surviving spouse, or
                            ``(iii) a head of household, or''.
    (d) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for subpart B of 
part II of subchapter A of chapter 61 of such Code is amended by 
inserting after the item relating to section 6013 the following:

                              ``Sec. 6013A. Combined return with 
                                        separate rates.''
    (e) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable years beginning after the date of the enactment of 
this Act.

SEC. 3. SIMPLIFICATION OF TAX CODE.

    The President shall establish a commission to study ways to 
simplify the income tax laws of the United States. The Commission shall 
submit a report containing the results of its study to the President 
and the Congress within 2 years after the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 4. USE OF MEDIATION AND ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION BY IRS.

    The Secretary of the Treasury shall take such steps as may be 
necessary to insure that mediation and other forms of alternative 
dispute resolution are used to the maximum extent practicable to 
resolve disputes between the Internal Revenue Service and taxpayers.

SEC. 5. TAXPAYER ADVISORY BOARD.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall appoint a 
Taxpayers Advisory Board composed of ordinary taxpayers to advise the 
Internal Revenue Service on matters concerning the administration of 
the income tax laws.
    (b) Specific Duties.--The Taxpayer Advisory Board established under 
subsection (a) shall hold public meetings in each of the Internal 
Revenue Service Regions to listen directly to taxpayer complaints and 
concerns and to report those concerns to the Internal Revenue Service. 
The Board shall also represent the taxpayer views to the Internal 
Revenue Service.
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