[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 44 (Tuesday, April 15, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S3215]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. ABRAHAM:
  S. 584. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to change 
the time for filing income tax returns from April 15 to the first 
Tuesday in November, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Finance.


                    the TAXATION ACCOUNTABILITY ACT

  Mr. ABRAHAM. Mr. President, we made several reforms during the last 
Congress intended to put Members of this body in closer touch with the 
American people. Among those reforms were provisions applying to 
Members of Congress the same laws that apply to private businesses and 
citizens.
  Today I am introducing legislation that I believe will further 
strengthen the ties between Members and their constituents. In 
particular, Mr. President, I am concerned that, where, according to a 
USA Today poll from this March, 70 percent of the American people 
believe that they need a tax cut, many in Congress still refuse to give 
it to them.
  I am convinced, Mr. President, that some Members continue to oppose 
any limits on Federal tax funds because they are out of touch with the 
American people. That is why I am introducing the Taxation 
Accountability Act to tie the act of voting more closely with the act 
of taxpaying.
  Too many Members believe that the American people are not, and do not 
believe themselves to be, over-taxed. This is wrong, Mr. President, and 
we must put an end to this mistaken and dangerous belief. How? By 
making it possible for Americans to more effectively act on their 
convictions regarding proper levels of taxation. By moving tax day, now 
April 15, to coincide with election day.
  To begin with, Mr. President, most Americans are not even fully aware 
of the percentage of their income the government takes from them in the 
form of taxes. According to the National Taxpayer's Union, the average 
American family now pays almost 40 percent of its income in State, 
local, and Federal taxes. That is an all-time high.
  Yet, with almost 40 percent of their income going to taxes, mothers 
and fathers in America still are not going to the polls. Despite the 
huge investment they are making, voluntarily or involuntarily, in 
government in this country, this last Presidential election showed the 
lowest turnout in our history. Americans are not exercising their right 
to decide who shall represent them in deciding how that government 
shall be run--what it shall do and at what expense.
  Why are Americans so apathetic in the face of such staggering tax 
rates, Mr. President? Simple, most Americans simply do not know how 
high their taxes really are.
  Two years ago a Readers Digest poll asked Americans, ``What is the 
highest percentage of income that is fair for a family of four making 
$200,000 to pay in all taxes?'' The median response, regardless of 
whether the respondent was rich or poor, black or white, was 25 
percent.
  This estimate among Americans, that 25 percent is the limit of fair 
taxation, is borne out by a grassroots research poll conducted last 
March. That poll found that a majority of Americans would favor a 
constitutional amendment to prohibit Federal, State, and local taxes 
from taking ``a combined total of more than 25 percent of anyone's 
income in taxes.''
  Yet the Tax Foundation tells us that a dual-income family today pays 
an average of 38.4 percent of its income in taxes to State, local, and 
Federal governments.
  Why is it, Mr. President, that Americans, are not aware of so vital a 
figure as the percentage of their income that is taken away by the 
government in taxes?
  One reason is the significant extent to which the taxes they pay are 
hidden. Taxes on businesses eventually are paid by families. So are 
sales taxes. Taxes on the average loaf of bread equal 31 percent of the 
total cost. Taxes also represent 43 percent of the cost of a hotel 
room, 54 percent of the cost of a gallon of gas and 40 percent of the 
cost of an airline ticket.
  Another, and perhaps the most significant way taxes are hidden is 
withholding. Many taxpayers do not realize how much the government is 
taking from them because it takes their money before they ever see it. 
Only when they fill out their tax forms do most Americans have a chance 
to see the full enormity of the tax burden they bear. And then they 
have 7 months to cool off before election day rolls around.
  Combined, these factors keep Americans from realizing the extent of 
their tax burden, and acting on that realization. Information is 
crucial to effective voting. And just as crucial, in my view, is 
information that is timely. Only if people know the extent of their tax 
burden, and are made aware of it at a time when they can do something 
about it, will they act. Only if Americans are aware of what is at 
stake on election day will they vote on election day. And only if they 
vote, expressing their opinions on crucial issues like taxation, can 
they hold Members of Congress responsible for their actions.
  Mr. President, we are not likely to do away with withholding or 
repeal Federal taxes on bread and butter. But we can highlight the 
importance of voting by tieing the process of tax-filing more closely 
to the process of voting.
  To achieve this, Mr. President, I am proposing legislation that would 
move tax day, the day tax forms must be mailed to the Internal Revenue 
Service, to the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November--
election day. In this way our citizens will have fresh in their minds 
the substantive importance of voting at the same time they are to 
exercise their right to vote. Voter participation will increase as 
effective information increases, and thus so will the accountability of 
elected officials, as was intended by our Founders.
  There will be no cost to the Treasury because this bill moves the 
fiscal year into accord with the calendar year at the same time that it 
moves tax day. But there will be a significant impact on our form of 
government. Members of Congress will be put in closer touch with the 
people, to the vast improvement of democracy.
  I urge my colleagues to support this legislation as we attempt to 
foster responsible voter conduct and responsible government.
                                 ______