[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 73 (Wednesday, May 19, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S5597]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. MACK (for himself, Mr. Kohl, and Mr. Grassley):
  S. 1079. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to 
increase the deductibility of business meal expenses for individuals 
subject to Federal hours of service; to the Committee on Finance.


                            tax legislation

  Mr. MACK. Mr. President, two years ago in the Taxpayer Relief Act of 
1997, we included a provision to correct an unfair and unsound tax 
policy of the Clinton Administration concerning business meal 
deductions. The 1993 Clinton tax increases included a reduction in the 
percentage of business meal expenses that could be deducted, from 80 
percent down to 50 percent. The Administration marketed this as an 
attack on the ``three martini lunch,'' but the tax increase was in fact 
a big blow to the wallets and pocketbooks of working class Americans 
whose jobs require them to be stranded far from home.
  Workers who are covered by federal ``hours of service'' regulations--
long-haul truckers, airline flight attendants and pilots, long distance 
bus drivers, some merchant mariners and railroad workers--have no 
choice but to eat their meals on the road. Their meal expenses are a 
necessary and unavoidable part of their jobs. The Clinton 
Administration's business meal tax increase hit these occupations hard. 
For the average trucker, making between $32,000 and $36,000 annually, 
this tax increase might be greater than $1,000 per year. This is a lot 
of money to these hard-working taxpayers.
  Congress addressed this inequity in 1997, passing a provision that 
would gradually raise the meal deduction percentage back to 80 percent 
for these workers. But a slow, gradual fix is not good enough. Today, 
Senator Kohl, Senator Grassley, and I are introducing a bill that would 
immediately restore the 80 percent deduction for truckers, flight 
crews, and other workers limited by the federal ``hours of service'' 
regulations.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1079

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. INCREASED DEDUCTIBILITY OF BUSINESS MEAL EXPENSES 
                   FOR INDIVIDUALS SUBJECT TO FEDERAL LIMITATIONS 
                   ON HOURS OF SERVICE.

       (a) In General.--Paragraph (3) of section 274(n) of the 
     Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to only 50 percent of 
     meal and entertainment expenses allowed as deduction) is 
     amended to read as follows:
       ``(3) Special rule for individuals subject to federal hours 
     of service.--In the case of any expenses for food or 
     beverages consumed while away from home (within the meaning 
     of section 162(a)(2)) by an individual during, or incident 
     to, the period of duty subject to the hours of service 
     limitations of the Department of Transportation, paragraph 
     (1) shall be applied by substituting `80 percent' for `50 
     percent'.''
       (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) 
     shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 
     1999.
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