[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 397 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 397

To require Members of Congress to disclose delinquent tax liability and 
to require an ethics inquiry into, and the garnishment of the wages of, 
                  a Member with Federal tax liability.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 10, 2017

 Mr. Chaffetz introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on 
 Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
   each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require Members of Congress to disclose delinquent tax liability and 
to require an ethics inquiry into, and the garnishment of the wages of, 
                  a Member with Federal 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 ``Members of Congress Tax 
Accountability Act of 2017''.

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) For individuals described in section 101(f)(9), the amount 
of any delinquent tax liability owed to the United States or any State 
or local government entity.
    ``(B) In this paragraph--
            ``(i) the term `delinquent tax liability' means any unpaid 
        tax liability which has been assessed and with respect to which 
        all judicial and administrative remedies have been exhausted, 
        or have lapsed; and
            ``(ii) any delinquent tax liability of an entity more than 
        50 percent of the stock of which in the case of a corporation 
        (by vote or value), or 50 percent of the capital and profits 
        interest of which in the case of an entity other than a 
        corporation, is owned directly or indirectly by an individual 
        shall be treated as a delinquent tax liability of such 
        individual in proportion to such individual's ownership 
        interest in such entity.''.
    (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 a Member of Congress reports a delinquent tax liability on the 
Member's annual disclosure form required under section 102(a)(9) of the 
Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (as added by section 2), the Committee 
on Ethics of the House of Representatives or the Select Committee on 
Ethics of the Senate (as the case may be) shall immediately open an 
inquiry into the tax delinquency of that Member for purposes of--
            (1) determining the total delinquent tax liability of the 
        Member;
            (2) determining the reason the Member has incurred a 
        delinquent tax liability;
            (3) determining whether the Member has a plan to eliminate 
        such delinquent tax liability; and
            (4) determining whether such delinquent tax liability has 
        reflected poorly on Congress.

SEC. 4. FEDERAL TAX LIABILITY.

    A Member of Congress 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 30 calendar days after filing the 
form, arrange with the Secretary of the Senate or the Chief 
Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives, as appropriate, 
and the Internal Revenue Service to have an appropriate amount of the 
Member's salary designated to pay the taxes owed to the United States 
within a reasonable time period.

SEC. 5. MEMBER OF CONGRESS DEFINED.

    In this Act, the term ``Member of Congress'' means a Senator or a 
Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the 
Congress.
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