[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 745 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 745

           To provide debt and tax transparency to taxpayers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 16, 2015

  Mr. Cornyn introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
                  referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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 2015''.

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 20 percent of 
        their total income on Federal taxes in 2014.
            (3) In 2014, United States taxpayers spent more on taxes 
        than on food, clothing, and housing combined.
            (4) The Federal Government spent the equivalent of more 
        than $28,800 per United States household in 2014, adding $4,000 
        per household to the Federal deficit.
            (5) The national debt as of January 2015 exceeds $145,000 
        per United States household.
    (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) Provision of Statement Upon Request.--Beginning not later than 
October 1, 2017, the Secretary of the Treasury (or the Secretary's 
delegate) shall provide to each eligible individual a ``taxpayer 
account statement'' for such individual.
    (b) Taxpayer Account Statement.--The taxpayer account statement 
required under subsection (a) 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.
    (c) 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 (b)(6).
    (d) 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.
    (e) 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).
    (f) Mandatory Provision of Initial Statements.--By not later than 
September 30, 2020, the Secretary of the Treasury (or the Secretary's 
delegate) shall provide a taxpayer account statement containing the 
information required under subsection (b) to each eligible individual 
for whom a current mailing address can be determined. The Secretary 
shall provide with each such statement notice that an updated version 
of such statement is available annually upon request.
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