[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 47 (Thursday, April 13, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E559]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TAXPAYER BILL OF RIGHTS 2000

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. BENJAMIN A GILMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 11, 2000

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I am in strong support of H.R. 4163, the 
Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2000. I urge my colleagues to join in 
supporting this important legislation.
  H.R. 4163 is a bipartisan bill designed to provide further 
protections to taxpayers from regulatory abuse by the Internal Revenue 
Service. In recent years, the Congress has adopted several of these 
taxpayer bill of rights, which have done much to reign in some of the 
more outrageous abuses heaped on taxpayers, who, by no fault of their 
own, have run afoul of overzealous IRS personnel.
  This legislation offers a number of important protections for those 
individuals who have been unable to pay their taxes on time and thus 
have incurred additional interest and penalty charges. Specifically, 
the bill repeals the present day penalty for failure to pay tax, for 
those taxpayers that have entered into installment payments with the 
IRS to repay large outstanding balances.
  Additionally, this bill: Expands circumstances where interest on 
underpayment of taxes may be abated, simplifies estimated tax 
calculations, limits taxpayer exposure to underpayment interest through 
the use of qualified reserve accounts, and tightens the privacy rights 
of taxpayers through limiting disclosure options open to the IRS.
  Mr. Speaker, similar bills in the past have done much to provide 
protection to taxpayers from overbearing Federal agencies with 
regulations that have had unintended consequences in their 
implementation. This legislation continues that tradition by offering 
important protections to have, for whatever reason, made under-payments 
on taxes owed and are subsequently trying to make good on any overdue 
balances.
  Accordingly, I urge my colleagues to support this worthy legislation.

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