[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6050 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6050

           To provide debt and tax transparency to taxpayers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 15, 2016

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
           To provide debt and tax transparency to taxpayers.

    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 ``National Debt and Taxation 
Transparency Act of 2016''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) United States taxpayers work on average almost 3 months 
        of every year to pay for the operations of the Federal 
        Government.
            (2) United States taxpayers spent on average 21 percent of 
        their total income on Federal taxes in 2015.
            (3) In 2015, United States taxpayers spent more on taxes 
        than on food, clothing, and housing combined.
            (4) The Federal Government spent the equivalent of more 
        than $29,800 per United States household in 2015, adding nearly 
        $4,200 per household to the Federal deficit.
            (5) Each household's share of the national debt, as of 
        January 2016, exceeds $152,000.
            (6) Publicly held debt is 74 percent of the gross domestic 
        product, a level not seen since World War II.
            (7) Mandatory spending is growing at a faster rate than the 
        economy.
            (8) Federal deficits are projected to exceed $1 trillion by 
        2022.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to bring more transparency to the tax-and-spend habit 
        of the Federal Government;
            (2) to provide for better accountability in the Federal 
        budget and appropriations process; and
            (3) to increase the participation of United States citizens 
        in their government.

SEC. 3. A TAXPAYER FINANCIAL STATEMENT TO TAXPAYERS.

    (a) Statements Initially Provided Upon Request.--During the period 
beginning on October 1, 2017, and ending on the first date that 
information is made available under subsection (b), the Secretary of 
the Treasury (or the Secretary's delegate) shall provide to each 
eligible individual, upon the request of such individual, a ``taxpayer 
account statement'' for such individual.
    (b) Inclusion in Instructions for Income Tax Returns.--In the case 
of individual income tax returns for taxable years beginning in 
calendar years after 2019, the Secretary of the Treasury (or the 
Secretary's delegate) shall include a taxpayer account statement 
containing the information required under subsection (c) in the 
instructions for such tax returns.
    (c) Taxpayer Account Statement.--The taxpayer account statement 
referred to in this section shall include--
            (1) a summary of the most recent Financial Report of the 
        United States Government, including the Statement of Long Term 
        Fiscal Projections;
            (2) a calculation by the Secretary of the Treasury of the 
        eligible individual's share of the total obligations of the 
        Federal Government, including those incurred in Medicare, 
        Social Security, other civilian and military retirement benefit 
        programs, publicly held debt, and any other liabilities and 
        expenses, as reported by the most recent Financial Report of 
        the United States Government; and
            (3) a 30-year calculation of the proportional increase in 
        the Federal income tax rates, as established under chapter 1 of 
        subtitle A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, necessary to 
        entirely finance the current fiscal path of the Federal 
        Government, assuming no changes in current fiscal policy and 
        assuming no budget deficit.
    (d) Additional Calculation.--Not later than 5 years after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall also provide an 
estimate of the marginal tax rate and the income and payroll tax 
liability of the individual under the assumptions stated under 
subsection (c)(3).
    (e) Eligible Individual.--For purposes of this section, the term 
``eligible individual'' means an individual who--
            (1) has a valid social security number issued by the Social 
        Security Administration;
            (2) received a Form W-2 in the previous taxable year; and
            (3) has filed a return of tax in any previous taxable year.
    (f) Notice.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall, to the maximum 
extent practicable, take such steps as are necessary to assure that 
eligible individuals are informed of the availability of the statement 
required under subsection (a).
    (g) Availability Through Electronic Filing Services.--It is the 
sense of the Congress that the Secretary of the Treasury (or the 
Secretary's delegate) should partner with electronic tax filing 
services to make the taxpayer account statement available when an 
eligible individual elects to file their taxes online.
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