[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3121 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3121

 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow the Secretary of 
the Treasury to waive the penalties for failure to disclose reportable 
                 transactions, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 12, 2008

Mr. Nelson of Nebraska (for himself, Mr. Roberts, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Bayh, 
and Mr. Lugar) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
                  referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow the Secretary of 
the Treasury to waive the penalties for failure to disclose reportable 
                 transactions, 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. WAIVER AND MODIFICATION OF PENALTIES FOR FAILURE TO DISCLOSE 
              REPORTABLE TRANSACTIONS.

    (a) In General.--Subsection (d) of section 6707A of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to authority to rescind penalty) is 
amended to read as follows:
    ``(d) Authority To Rescind or Waive Penalty.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary may rescind or waive all 
        or any portion of any penalty imposed by this section with 
        respect to any violation if--
                    ``(A) there was reasonable cause for the violation 
                and the taxpayer acted in good faith, or
                    ``(B) rescinding or waiving the penalty would 
                promote compliance with the requirements of this title 
                and effective tax administration.
            ``(2) No judicial appeal.--Notwithstanding any other 
        provision of law, any determination under this subsection may 
        not be reviewed in any judicial proceeding.
            ``(3) Records.--If a penalty is rescinded or waived under 
        paragraph (1), the Secretary shall set forth in writing the 
        opinion of the Secretary with respect to the determination, 
        including--
                    ``(A) a statement of the facts and circumstances 
                relating to the violation,
                    ``(B) the reasons for the rescission or waiver, and
                    ``(C) the amount of the penalty rescinded or 
                waived.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Subsection (c) of section 6707 of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to rescission authority) is 
amended to read as follows:
    ``(c) Rescission Authority.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Commissioner of Internal Revenue may 
        rescind all or any portion of any penalty imposed by this 
        section with respect to any violation if--
                    ``(A) the violation is with respect to a reportable 
                transaction other than a listed transaction, and
                    ``(B) rescinding the penalty would promote 
                compliance with the requirements of this title and 
                effective tax administration.
            ``(2) No judicial appeal.--Notwithstanding any other 
        provision of law, any determination under this subsection may 
        not be reviewed in any judicial proceeding.
            ``(3) Records.--If a penalty is rescinded under paragraph 
        (1), the Commissioner shall place in the file in the Office of 
        the Commissioner the opinion of the Commissioner with respect 
        to the determination, including--
                    ``(A) a statement of the facts and circumstances 
                relating to the violation,
                    ``(B) the reasons for the rescission, and
                    ``(C) the amount of the penalty rescinded.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to penalties assessed after January 1, 2008.
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