[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2195 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2195

    To require Members and employees of Congress and other Federal 
   employees who file under the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to 
                   disclose delinquent tax liability.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 15, 2012

  Mr. Brown of Massachusetts introduced the following bill; which was 
   read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 
                          Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To require Members and employees of Congress and other Federal 
   employees who file under the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to 
                   disclose delinquent tax liability.

    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 ``Congressional and Federal Employee 
Tax Accountability Act of 2012''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE ETHICS IN GOVERNMENT ACT OF 1978.

    (a) In General.--Section 102(a) of the Ethics in Government Act of 
1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(9)(A) The amount of any delinquent tax liability owed to the 
United States or any State or local government entity.
    ``(B) In this paragraph, the term `delinquent tax liability' means 
any tax liability which has been assessed and with respect to which all 
judicial and administrative remedies have been exhausted, or have 
lapsed.
    ``(C) Information provided pursuant to this paragraph shall not be 
subject to public disclosure.''.
    (b) Inclusion in Report.--Section 102(b)(1)(A) of the Ethics in 
Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by striking 
``paragraph (1)'' and inserting ``paragraphs (1) and (9)''.

SEC. 3. ETHICS INQUIRY.

    If an individual reports a delinquent tax liability on the 
individual's annual disclosure form required under section 102(a)(9) of 
the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (as added by section 2), the 
appropriate supervising ethics office shall immediately open an inquiry 
into the tax delinquency of that individual for purposes of--
            (1) determining the total delinquent tax liability of the 
        individual;
            (2) determining the reason the individual has incurred a 
        delinquent tax liability;
            (3) determining whether the individual has a plan to 
        eliminate such delinquent tax liability; and
            (4) determining whether such delinquent tax liability has 
        reflected poorly on Congress or the employing agency.

SEC. 4. FEDERAL TAX LIABILITY.

    An individual who discloses a delinquent tax liability under 
section 102(a)(9) of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (as added by 
section 2) shall, not later than 12 months after filing the form, 
arrange with the relevant payroll office and the Internal Revenue 
Service to have the individual's salary reduced by an amount 
appropriate to pay the taxes owed to the United States within a 
reasonable time period.
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