[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 437 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 437

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to require the Secretary of 
   the Treasury to provide each individual taxpayer a receipt for an 
 income tax payment which itemizes the portion of the payment which is 
          allocable to various Government spending categories.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 2, 2011

  Mr. Nelson of Florida (for himself and Mr. Brown of Massachusetts) 
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 require the Secretary of 
   the Treasury to provide each individual taxpayer 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 Receipt Act''.

SEC. 2. ITEMIZED FEDERAL TAX RECEIPT.

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

``SEC. 7529. FEDERAL TAX RECEIPT.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall send to every taxpayer who 
files an individual income tax return for any taxable year an itemized 
Federal tax receipt showing a proportionate allocation (in money terms) 
of the taxpayer's total tax payment for such taxable year among major 
expenditure categories for the fiscal year ending in such taxable year. 
The Federal tax receipt shall also include 2 separate line items 
showing the amount of Federal debt per legal United States resident at 
the end of such fiscal year, and the amount of additional borrowing per 
legal United States resident by the Federal Government in such fiscal 
year.
    ``(b) Total Tax Payments.--For purposes of subsection (a), the 
total tax payment of a taxpayer for any taxable year is equal to the 
sum of--
            ``(1) the tax imposed by subtitle A for such taxable year 
        (as shown on such taxpayer's return), plus
            ``(2) the tax imposed by section 3101 on wages received by 
        such taxpayer during such taxable year.
    ``(c) Determination of Proportionate Allocation of Tax Payment 
Among Major Expenditure Categories.--For purposes of determining a 
proportionate allocation described in subsection (a), not later than 60 
days after the end of any fiscal year, the Director of the 
Congressional Budget Office shall provide to the Secretary the 
percentage of Federal outlays for such fiscal year for the following 
categories and subcategories of Federal spending:
            ``(1) Social Security.
            ``(2) National defense:
                    ``(A) Overseas combat operations.
            ``(3) Medicare.
            ``(4) Low-income assistance programs:
                    ``(A) Housing assistance.
                    ``(B) Food stamps and other food programs.
            ``(5) Other Federal health programs:
                    ``(A) Medicaid, Children's Health Insurance 
                Program, and other public health programs.
                    ``(B) National Institutes of Health and other 
                health research and training programs.
                    ``(C) Food and Drug Administration, Consumer 
                Product Safety Commission, and other regulatory health 
                and safety activities.
            ``(6) Unemployment benefits.
            ``(7) Net interest on the Federal debt.
            ``(8) Veterans benefits and services.
            ``(9) Education:
                    ``(A) K-12 and vocational education.
                    ``(B) Higher education.
                    ``(C) Job training and assistance.
            ``(10) Federal employee retirement and disability benefits.
            ``(11) Highway, mass transit, and railroad funding.
            ``(12) Mortgage finance (Federal National Mortgage 
        Association, Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, Federal 
        Housing Administration, and other housing finance programs).
            ``(13) Justice and law enforcement funding, including 
        Federal Bureau of Investigation, Federal courts, and Federal 
        prisons.
            ``(14) Natural resources, land, and water management and 
        conservation funding, including National Parks.
            ``(15) Foreign aid.
            ``(16) Science and technology research and advancement:
                    ``(A) National Aeronautics and Space 
                Administration.
            ``(17) Air transportation, including Federal Aviation 
        Administration.
            ``(18) Farm subsidies.
            ``(19) Energy funding, including renewable energy and 
        efficiency programs, Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and Federal 
        Energy Regulatory Commission.
            ``(20) Disaster relief and insurance, including Federal 
        Emergency Management Administration.
            ``(21) Diplomacy and embassies.
            ``(22) Environmental Protection Agency and pollution 
        control programs.
            ``(23) Internal Revenue Service and United States Treasury 
        operations.
            ``(24) Coast Guard and maritime programs.
            ``(25) Community Development Block Grants.
            ``(26) Congress and legislative branch activities.
            ``(27) United States Postal Service.
            ``(28) Executive Office of the President.
            ``(29) Other Federal spending.
    ``(d) Additional Major Expenditure Categories.--With respect to 
each fiscal year, the Director of the Congressional Budget Office shall 
include additional categories and subcategories of Federal spending for 
purposes of subsection (c), but only if, and only for so long as, each 
such additional category or subcategory exceeds 3 percent of total 
Federal outlays for the fiscal year.
    ``(e) Timing of Federal Tax Receipt.--A Federal tax receipt shall 
be made available to each taxpayer as soon as practicable upon the 
processing of that taxpayer's income tax return by the Internal Revenue 
Service.
    ``(f) Use of Technologies.--The Internal Revenue Service is 
encouraged to utilize modern technologies such as electronic mail and 
the Internet to minimize the cost of sending Federal tax receipts to 
taxpayers. The Internal Revenue Service shall establish an interactive 
program on its Internet Web site to allow taxpayers to generate Federal 
tax receipts on their own.
    ``(g) Cost.--No charge shall be imposed to cover any cost 
associated with the production or distribution of the Federal tax 
receipt.
    ``(h) 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 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the 
following new item:

``Sec. 7529. Federal tax receipt.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable years beginning after the date of the enactment of 
this Act.
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